Following the conclusion of London 2012, UK Athletics Paralympic head coach Peter Eriksson was named the new Olympic head coach.

The move saw Paula Dunn appointed the new UK Athletics Paralympic head coach after she worked with Eriksson in the build-up to London 2012 while Banks, an Australian who coached Britain's Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson and Australia's Louise Sauvage, has been bought in to help the wheelchair racing athletes in the lead up to Rio 2016.

Cockroft, who was personally coached by Eriksson, admits it was difficult to see her mentor move to the Olympic side of UK Athletics but said she is confident the new look team will thrive.

"Obviously in an ideal would, it would be great if Peter was still my full-time coach," Cockroft told insidethegames.

"I'll still be working with him a bit but clearly not as often as before.

"But sometimes change can be good to keep things fresh and I'm really looking forward to working with Jenni.

"She has a great reputation having coached legends like Tanni and Louise Sauvage so hopeful she can take me on to great things like she did with them.

"It is also good to have Paula involved.

"She has been part of the set up for a while and she knows how Peter worked.

"If a new person came in, they might have completely overhauled the system and that wouldn't be a good thing.

"We did great at London 2012 with a young team and the best thing now is to just build on those foundations as we head towards Rio 2016.

"I think Paula will be able to help us do that."


Cockroft, who won both the 100 and 200 metres T34 at the London 2012 Paralympics, revealed her focus is now on the 2013 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Athletics Championships in Lyon this summer, where she will be looking to retain the two sprint world titles she claimed in 2011.

"I'm really looking forward to the World Championships and to hopefully defending my titles," she said.

"It is the major events that keep you motivated so that is really driving me right now.

"The problem for motivation could come next year because my event is not at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games so I don't have a major competition.

"But 2013 is definitely another big year for me."

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