There are major changes afoot in British sport.
And they are being driven not by Sven-Goran Eriksson, David Beckham or Jonny Wilkinson, but by a tall, white-haired woman who could walk unrecognised into any stadium in the country.
 | SUE CAMPBELL Age: 55 Job: Interim chair of UK Sport Experience
Former netball international, junior athletics international. Former chief executive of National Coaching Foundation and Youth Sport Trust Why you should care
Campbell's decisions will shape the future of British sport |
Sue Campbell is an upbeat, perky individual. She has to be. As interim chair of UK Sport, she was given just 18 months to completely reinvigorate British sport.
Six months into that brief, Campbell is finding out just how hard her task is.
"It's been more challenging than I expected," she admits, sitting in her austere Holborn office. "I didn't expect it to be plain sailing, but it's been very challenging.
"Am I a third of the way through? Probably - just."
Campbell's job is to make whatever changes are necessary to make British sport more successful, even if it means upsetting some of the 500 bodies presently involved in its organisation.
Forget committees and just qualifying. This is about modernisation and medals.
"Instead of one-off success, we need to create a sustainable world-class system," she says.
"We did exceptionally well at the Sydney Olympics, and if we hold roughly the same place in Athens, we will have done well.
| GB won 11 golds at the Sydney Games and finished 10th in the official medal table It was the country's best Olympic haul since Antwerp in 1920 (14 golds) |
"But to say that you could make a difference to the world-class performance area in six months is a nonsense. My focus has been on putting in place systems to make sure we have a successful Beijing Olympics." WHAT IS HER BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS?
Campbell cites two examples as the models to follow: Sir Clive Woodward's re-organisation of the England rugby union set-up, and Bill Sweetenham's achievements with British swimming.
"Our drive is to not just invest in the athlete, but invest in the system - which despite a turnover of athletes, will remain consistent," she says.
"I would like us to really push on to Beijing. But that is going to be about investment at the cutting-edge, about change and challenge, about innovation."
|  All I can do is try to create a sense of excellence and purpose that outlives me as an individual |
Trouble is, too many of sport's governing bodies are still living life in the last century, pottering along in amiable isolation from the demands of elite sport.
"There is a massive heritage of people who have given a lifetime's service," says Campbell diplomatically. "But this notion that we can sustain world-class performance on the back of a voluntary structure is not right.
"Volunteers aren't best positioned to make the dynamic, rapid-response decisions we need.
"What I'm really concerned about is that we remain athlete-focused. What we're asking is, how do we support our elite athletes and the people who support them - coaches, physiotherapists, performance directors?
"We will never have enough money. It's how we use the money we've got to the best effect."
Quiet revolution
Campbell's presence at UK Sport, together with her appointment of Liz Nicholl as her chief executive, means that four of the most influential positions in British sport are now held by women.
Completing the quartet are Tessa Jowell, secretary of state at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and Barbara Cassani, chair of London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
It is another sign of the quiet revolution that has been gathering pace ever since the disastrous performance of the Great Britain team at the Atlanta Olympics eight years ago.
"We have to change - everything does," says Campbell. "If we expect coaches and athletes to, we certainly must. One of things I learnt as a coach was never to ask your players to do something you wouldn't be prepared to do.
 Campbell sees Clive Woodward's achievements as the ideal blueprint |
"My colleagues at the Youth Sport Trust will tell you that on an annual basis we challenge and change. To begin with, there were questions like, 'Is this the last change?' But the change was constant.
"What I leave here when I'm finished is not something that will be set in stone. It will have a recognition that it constantly needs to change itself.
"I don't want to leave an organisation that thinks it's done it, but one that accepts that to be the best, you have to be willing to challenge and change."
In addition to looking after elite performers, UK Sport is also in charge of Britain's dope-testing programme and the staging of major sporting events.
On the first of these, Campbell is bullish. Already the independent inquiry she instigated has recommended UK Sport remains in charge of the country's drug-testing, rather than a new independent agency.
"There are things we could do better, but we are among the best in the world," she says.
"I'd like to invest more in education, so we have a more preventative model. I want to increase the number of tests we do, I want to target those more effectively with the help of the governing bodies, and I want to build strong alliances with as many sports as I can.
"The inconsistency of the way we deal with things is confusing to the media, public and sports people alike. We've all got some work to do. But we operate a very thorough and comprehensive testing programme."
Home advantage
On the second count, there are more changes planned.
"We've talked to the DCMS, and what we've agreed is that the mega-events - the Olympics, the football World Cup - will be driven by them," reveals Campbell.
"Everyone acknowledges that, without government support and strategy, you have no chance.
"What UK Sport will focus on is major events - World Indoor athletics, the European cross country championships.
"What you're trying to do with the major events is to demonstrate your competency to run mega events. You're also trying to make sure our athletes get home-court advantage.
"We have now developed a 10-year major events strategy, which is being married to the DCMS's 10-year mega-event strategy.
"We will also do some very focused work to make sure that our representatives on international federations are better prepared than in the past, and more able to get into positions of significant influence.
"We want international influence - not because we think we have a God-given right to it, but to benefit sport here, and certainly to attract events like the Olympics."
In a year's time, Campbell's tenure at UK Sport will come to an end - followed, she says, by a period where she intends to do nothing else but relax.
But how will she judge if her time in charge has been a success?
"A great American football coach once said, 'In life, I am in charge of my own excellence and that of my players. Every day we work on that to do the best we can. What I'm not in charge of is success, because other people judge me on that.'
"So, after 18 months in the job, other people can determine whether I have been a success and done a good job, or whether this was just another phase for British sport.
"All I can do is try to create a sense of excellence and purpose that outlives me as an individual. That is what real development is about - creating something that far outlives you."
MMIX
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