Critics Round On Woodward’s Boa Role

Speaking in front of a parliamentary committee, a number of leading sports figures have questioned Sir Clive Woodward’s role as elite performance director at the British Olympic Association.

UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner and former Olympic cycling gold medallist Chris Boardman were among the critics of Woodward’s input as elite performance director during his 14 month tenure.

Speaking to the gathered MPs, Warner said: ‘He has not had any impact in athletics yet and he is a political hot potato. We must let sports run themselves and are determined not to be dictated to.

‘Ultimately, it has to be about what the performance director of each sport believes in and they must stand and fall by that.’

Boardman added: ‘We don’t see anything he has to offer cycling that we are not already getting.’

Woodward’s brief is to come up with ways to help Team GB finish at least fourth in the medal table at the 2012 Games in London.

A report last month revealed that 18 of the 35 Olympic sports believed Woodward had made no impact whatsoever in his first year at the BOA, and many were still unsure as to what his role actually was.

Woodward responded to these criticisms by saying he had spent his first 12 months learning about Olympic sport and working on a model for elite performance based on amateur golfer Melissa Reid which could then be transferred to other sports.

Warner told members of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee that he was against the scheme.

‘My concern for athletics is the risk that we have caught the backlash of two organisations with rival programmes.’