Athletics Ireland name former sprinter Ryan as new Director of Coaching

GARY RYAN has been appointed Director of Coaching with Athletics Ireland, but the resignation of High Performance Director, Elaine Fitzgerald, has shocked the sport and left AAI with a huge void.

The Director of Coaching has been vacant since Stephen Maguire was forced to resign for health reasons last year and Ryan’s appointment means his post as Director of Development will be filled by another former international athlete, Jacqui Freyne (nee Stokes) from Waterford.

It’s understood a candidate from Britain has been earmarked for Director of Athletics and an announcement is imminent.

Ryan’s appointment will win wide approval amongst coaches and athletes. Along with another Nenagh athlete, Neil Ryan, he revolutionised Irish sprinting in the mid 1990’s. Both competed at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 — the first Irish sprinters to appear at that level since the late Fanahan McSweeney in the 1972 Munich Games.

He later competed in the Sydney Olympics when Ireland had a sprint relay team in action and he competed at three world championships and three European championships.

National champion over all distances from 60m up to 200m, he also held national records at those distances. He currently shares the 100m record and holds the 60m record. He was also a member of the Irish team that won bronze medals in the 4 x 400m at the world indoor championships.

He retired from competitive athletics at the European championships in Gothenburg last year to devote his total attention to his job as Director of Development with Athletics Ireland.

“We have a wealth of talent and it is just a matter of developing a structure that will maximise that. For years I have been singing the praises of our coaches, I feel I know exactly what they need and I would hope to provide for their needs through our limited resources.

“The coaches will all have a say in the direction we take and I am looking forward to meeting both the regional and national coaches over the coming weeks to hear their views.”

Jacqui Freyne, as a regional development officer, had been working closely with Gary Ryan since her appointment last year.

She, too, was an outstanding athlete, winning seven national long jump titles, was a 200m champion and also won a medal at 100m.

The new appointments, however, were tempered by the departure of Elaine Fitzgerald who has held the post of High Performance Director for the past three and a half years. During that time she was involved in putting all the new structures in place as well as looking after the interests and welfare of the elite athletes.

Fitzgerald said yesterday: “We have been through what has been a tough and often traumatic transition. It is safe to say that, right now, all the structures have been put in place.

“In March, we will have achieved what we wanted. There is a new Director of Athletics coming on board who will oversee the technical side and it’s all about the next 10 years.”