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| |  Monday, 13 August, 2001, 09:09 GMT 10:09 UK Moorcroft calls for major review British team tasted much disappointment in Edmonton David Moorcroft has called for a "major review" of what went wrong for the British team at the World Championships in Edmonton. Britain's men and women left Canada with only one gold and one bronze medal to show for nine days of competition, their worst haul at a major championships for 25 years. Moorcroft, chief executive of UK Athletics, admitted that changes are now needed, but attributed some Edmonton failings to injury. "I have been involved with athletics teams for 30 years and have never known an injury situation like the one we have had," he told BBC Five Live.
"But we cannot make excuses. It is our worst performance for some considerable time." As many as 10 athletes were considered medal contenders. But only Jonathan Edwards, who won gold in the triple jump, and decathlete Dean Macey, who earned a bronze, managed to deliver. "We will do a major review of what went wrong and how we can do better in the future," Moorcroft continued. "We have got to be better at planning our athletes' careers, of knowing when to peak and not to peak. "Too many people have broken down and we will be looking at what we can do to minimise their chances of breaking down in the future." The former world 5,000m record holder insisted that there was a "climate of collective responsibility" among athletes, coaches, doctors and administrators for Britain's poor showing.
"We certainly accept our fair share of responsibility. We've all got to work harder to do everything we can to make it likely that athletes perform to their best." But Moorcroft insisted that there was still an air of optimism in British athletics. "There is still great belief within the team of the talent that exists. "Dean Macey's achievement was staggering and Christian Malcolm and Mark Lewis-Francis have shown that they can mix it with the rest of the world, but there is still some way to go." Asked whether the World Championships should revert to being held every four years like the Olympics rather than every two, Moorcroft responded: "It's the same for every nation and we are not the only nation to have done relatively poorly at these games. "We must ask whether we can realistically expect to be among the leading nations every year." | |
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