The 60-year-old Swede took up the job in October last year, moving across from his previous position as British Athletics' Paralympic head coach, a post he had held since January 2009, after he masterminded the hugely successful ParalympicsGB athletics team performance at London 2012 where they finished third with 29 medals, 11 of which were gold.

But Eriksson announced his resignation from British Athletics today saying he wants to return to Canada to be with his family.

Eriksson, who was born in Stockholm but moved to Canada in 1987, is said to have been considering returning home for some time given that his wife and four daughters remained in Canada while he has been living in Britain for the last four years.

The move comes despite him signing a five-year contract to occupy the British Athletics head coach position until the 2017 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships at the Olympic Stadium in London.

"Words cannot describe how disappointed I am to take this step," Eriksson admitted.

"There is no bigger job in athletics anywhere in the world.

"At present I have no plans, but I accept that if I am to take any other job in sport it will be a step down.

"Athletics in Great Britain receives the best possible support through the National Lottery, and that, coupled with the performance structure here means it is every coach's dream to hold this position.

"However, no job is more important than family and children, and personal circumstances mean that mine need me to be back in Canada."

Eriksson has agreed to continue in the position until the end of June, meaning his last major outing will be to lead the British team to the European Team Championships in Gateshead on June 22-23.

Following his departure, British Athletics performance director Neil Black will oversee head coach duties for the remainder of the summer and lead the team at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, which will take place from August 10 to 18, as the search for a permanent successor is carried out.

"This is a big disappointment but it could not have been foreseen six months ago, and Peter has been open with us on the personal challenges he faces," Black explained.

"Working with Peter we have put together a team of elite coaches leading each of the event groups based at the institute and they will able to help me cover the head coach duties for the summer with minimal disruption.

"But for now we are looking forward to a strong team performance in Gateshead and I look forward to working alongside Peter towards this goal."

British Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos admitted the resignation is a blow but that he supports Eriksson's decision.

"This is very much about the human face of performance sport, it is easy to talk about what it means for us but this is a personal issue and whilst we would love for him to stay, we can only be supportive and wish him the best," he said.

"He did a superb job as the Paralympic head coach, having joined us four years ago and built a strong team around him.

"The signs were there that he could make the same impact on our Olympic programme and I know that he will want to sign off with a successful team performance in Gateshead next month."

The British Athletics chief executive also backed Black to provide a smooth transition.

"Neil Black will ensure stability for the on-going programme, and we will review the structure at the end of the season, but what is most important right now is we continue to focus on Moscow and the job in hand," he said.

A move back to Canada could see Eriksson return to Athletics Canada, where he previously worked as a Paralympic coach and notably mentored wheelchair racing icon Chantal Petitclerc, one of the most decorated athletes of all time with 14 Paralympic gold medals.

He would undoubtedly be welcomed back having coached athletes to 122 medals in total at Paralympic Games since 1984.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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