- Stephen Maguire was appointed technical director last September
- Maguire was criticized for Britain’s selection policy for the World Cup
- The technical director led Great Britain to a record 10 medals in Budapest
Stephen Maguire was abruptly sacked as technical director of British athletics on Tuesday after a row over budgets for the Paris Olympics.
Although the cash-strapped organization gave no details of who initiated his shock departure in a blunt 35-word statement, Mail Sport understands he has been sacked from his position.
The decision, which comes just nine months before the Olympics and was later criticized by Dina Asher-Smith as ‘incredibly short-sighted’, came to light during a meeting between Maguire and UKA CEO Jack Buckner in Loughborough on Tuesday morning.
That talk is believed to have taken a dip amid ongoing tensions over poor finances at UKA, with their 2021-2022 accounts showing a loss of £1.8m. One prominent source claims that the financial situation is so perilous that there will be no support for British athletes at certain overseas events and has hinted that the pot is effectively empty for the rest of this Olympic cycle. UKA declined to comment.
Remarkably, the call for Maguire’s removal was made just a few months after Maguire led Great Britain to a record 10 medals at this summer’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
British athletics technical director Stephen Maguire has left nine months before the Olympics
Men’s 1,500m champion Josh Kerr claimed one of ten medals won by Great Britain at the World Championships this summer, equaling their best result since 1993
Maguire’s departure comes just nine months before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
Asher-Smith was clearly angry about the situation, writing on social media: ‘I would like to see a full explanation of the reasoning behind the disappointing decision for the athletes and our performance.
“Stephen has been phenomenal, so dedicated and has an excellent understanding of what it takes to be successful in the sport of athletics.
“His long history in the sport made him excellent at his job, which resulted in the team’s overwhelming success in Budapest and put us on a great path to Paris.
“Such a quick decision as athletes begin preparing for an Olympic Games cannot have been made without taking into account the performance needs of the athletes.
‘As an athlete it would be nice to have this explained to us, because from the outside it seems like an incredibly short-sighted decision, made without taking into account the fact that we are in an Olympic year.’
UKA have said they will appoint an interim head coach ‘in due course’, with Scott Simpson, their head of field and combined events and coach of pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw, among the contenders to be Maguire’s long-term replacement are.
Athletes were informed of Maguire’s departure via email on Tuesday afternoon, but were only given the same brief information as the public.
Maguire previously worked at UKA as head of sprints and relays, but left in 2020 after Christian Malcolm was surprisingly chosen as head coach ahead of him.
Dina Asher-Smith took to social media to condemn the decision to let Maguire leave the line-up
When former sprinter Malcolm was sacked last summer after less than two years in the role, Maguire reluctantly agreed to leave Sport Ireland and took up the top job in September, with UKA hailing him as ‘the best person to lead the program (of world class) to lead to. Paris and Los Angeles’.
He faced criticism earlier this year after overseeing a selection policy that saw Great Britain field the smallest team in 18 years to a World Championship, leaving some athletes who had qualified at home.
However, the team won 10 medals, including gold from Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the heptathlon and Josh Kerr in the 1500 metres, equaling their previous best result from 1993.
UKA said in a statement: ‘UK Athletics has announced that Stephen Maguire will leave his role as Technical Director with immediate effect. An interim head coach will be announced in due course and no further comment will be made until then.”