Top Canadian athletes react to Peter Eriksson’s dismissal from Athletics Canada

The country’s governing body for athletics released a major announcement regarding changes to its leadership going forward. Athletics Canada’s head coach, Peter Eriksson, has been let go. 

This comes after Athletics Canada conducted an in-depth review of the head coach’s performance– the largest the governing body has conducted so far, they say. In this review, Athletics Canada reached out to staff, provincial branch members, athletes, coaches, sponsors and other stakeholders. In gathering information on Eriksson’s role, they also held an anonymous online survey and held interviews with 120 people.

RELATED: Athletics Canada fires Peter Eriksson

After that, they came to the decision to fire Eriksson from his role which they did on Friday morning in Ottawa. “This decision was necessary to ensure sustainable international success,” said Rob Guy, Athletics Canada’s Chief Executive Officer. 

Athletics Canada announces changes to high performance leadership; Peter Eriksson relieved of duties https://t.co/z4FVlckOxI

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) December 9, 2016

Eriksson has been the head coach since 2013 and guided the country’s track team through two world championships and this year’s Olympic Games in Rio. He has been a controversial figure in the running scene though as many of his decisions around granting athlete funding and naming the 2016 Olympic team (and other key teams) have been unpopular. Many of his recent decisions were received poorly and left several of our best-performing athletes disappointed. 

Athletics Canada going forward

Guy spoke with media this afternoon explaining the reasoning behind Athletics Canada’s actions– and what they’re looking for going forward. “We just felt it was a different type of leadership style that we needed in order to improve our performance,” he said.

Eriksson will be replaced, but when and by who are details that the governing body does not yet know. As the first step in this restructuring, the CEO says he first wants to consult Athletics Canada’s technical team– coaches, sports specialists, etc. 

“We have some really talented people in our sport in Canada,” said Guy on Friday afternoon. “I want to talk to them and find out the type of person they are looking for. I want to find out exactly what kind of structure they want. Once we understand that, we’ll have a better idea of the type of person [to replace Eriksson].”

It’s not just about replacing someone as head coach though. As part of Guy’s discussion with media, he talked about reevaluating policies that are currently in place– team selection and carding being two such examples that Guy addressed. 

“We need to look at team selection, for example. That’s one that we need to take a lot at,” he said before mentioning providing financial assistance to athletes saying they need to be “making sure we get the money into the hands of the right people.” 

Guy emphasized that this is very much a period of discussing next steps. Nothing will be set in stone but he did say there’s a possibility that the roles of the head coach– including heading the Olympic, Paralympic, and Athletics Canada technical committee– could be split with another top dog. That, could take a load off and better benefit our athletes.

“We need to make sure we’re providing the best possible support we can to our podium potential athletes,” said Guy. 

As 2016 comes to an end, runners are looking at the world championships in 2017. The standards for that need to be declared by the end of January which promoted some to press Guy if the current standards will be revisited.

“It’s too early to say if there’s any changes were going to make on that,” he said.

Lanni Marchant and Reid Coolsaet weigh in

With this news, several have reacted, Reid Coolsaet, Canada’s second fastest marathoner in history, being among them. “It was definitely a surprise mainly because of how Team Canada did in Rio and at the world championships in 2015,” he says referring to the country’s strong medal count as a performance indicator.

“Hopefully, the person who replaces him will have the marathon more in mind,” he says citing the short qualifying window for the 2017 IAAF World Championships as well as the eligible qualifying period for government funding.

When asked whether he voiced any displeasure with the head coach through the online survey that AC distributed, Coolsaet adds “I was meaning to give him a call but was busy with Fukuoka and family. No point in doing that now.”

Lanni Marchant, Canada’s best-ever woman in the marathon says that with this news, she is hoping for change within Athletics Canada once the dust settles. She thinks that an Eriksson-free federation could be a positive thing for Canadian elites. She comments on her initial reaction upon hearing the news:

“I was hopeful for change. I don’t wish ill on anyone even when they slight me,” she says. “I didn’t think he was fulfilling everything we needed from a head coach.”

With the performance and results-focused side of the federation, she felt that Canadian runners were often misunderstood and even slighted. Pushing to keep athletes off the Olympic team is one such example she gives. 

“Right now I’m the best in Canada but we only sent two women to the Olympics and we had a third spot,” she says. 

As the restructuring of Athletics Canada continues, Marchant is hoping for a more positive athlete-federation relationship, and one where athletes are supported and understood. Marchant says that under Eriksson, runners often felt that the federation was getting in the way of what they were trying to achieve athletically. 

“You don’t have to hold our hands, but you also don’t have to put up hurdles,” she says.