Brailsford and Grobler first to become Honorary Fellows to UK Sport’s Coaching Fellowship

By Gary Anderson

November 26 - Two of Britain's most successful ever Olympic coaches, Sir Dave Brailsford and Jurgen Grobler, have become the first to join UK Sport's Coaching Fellowship as Honorary Fellows, following an announcement at the organisation's World Class Performance Conference in Manchester.

UK Sport claimed the duo were chosen for their proven track record of delivering sustained success, but also their commitment to coach development and willingness to share and impart knowledge.

"Sir David Brailsford and Jurgen Grobler are exceptionally talented and experienced individuals who share our vision for success and as Coaching Fellows they will help to inspire and support the development of the next generation of leaders," said Liz Nicholl., UK Sport's chief executive.

Sir David has been at the helm of a period of unprecedented success for British Cycling in recent years, both on the track and on the road.

Since taking up his role as performance director at British Cycling in 2002, Team GB has established itself as the most successful cycling team in modern Olympic history winning 30 Olympic medals, including 18 golds, and 49 Paralympic medals while also claiming 49 World Championship crowns in that time.

Since becoming team principal for the Sky Team in 2010, the 49-year-old has also overseen the winning of the Tour de France for the first time ever by a British rider when Sir Bradley Wiggins claimed the yellow jersey in 2012 and that was followed by victory for Chris Froome in this year's event.

Since becoming principal at Team Sky Brailsford has overseen two British winners of the Tour de France including Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2012 © Getty Images

"Good coaching has been a crucial ingredient in the success of the GB cycling team over the years, and supporting our coaches in their professional development is key," said Sir David.

"I'm excited and honoured to be part of UK Sport's Coaching Fellowship, which will help ensure we get the best out of our coaches, and continue to see British sport go from strength to strength."

Grobler, originally from Magdeburg in Germany, has been involved in British rowing since 1991.

After joining the British set-up in 1992, he became chief coach for men and since then he has personally coached gold medal winning crews at every Olympic Games starting with Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent in Barcelona.

The men's team of Andrew Triggs Hodge, Peter Reed, Tom James and Alex Gregory were the sixth consecutive team to be coached to Olympic gold by Grobler after their success in Eton Dorney last year.

The 67-year-old has also delivered 12 World Championship titles in that time.

Jurgen Grobler has delivered six consecutive Olympic men's rowing golds for Team GB since Barcelona 1992 ©Getty Images

"I am proud and delighted to be chosen by UK Sport as one of only two inaugural Fellows," said Grobler.

"It is a privilege for my sport of rowing.

"I have had the honour but also the responsibility of working with many, many talented athletes in my coaching career in the UK who have sacrificed so much to achieve their dreams.

"My work has been eased in more recent years by the advent of National Lottery funding which has made such a significant difference to high performance sport.

"This award is as much for the rowers I have coached as it is for me."

Sir David and Grobler will continue to help UK Sport to develop coaches already operating at a high level within their sport.

It has also announced a new "Athlete to Coach" programme which aims to develop better coaches working at the elite level of various sports by supporting former world-class athletes on their career into coaching.

From left to right: Alex Gregory, Pete Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge were the sixth crew to be coached to Olympic glory by Jurgen Grobler ©AFP/Getty Images

"Our aim is to take British coaching from world class to world leading, by supporting high performance coaches at every stage of their development," said Graham Taylor, head of coaching at UK Sport..

"At the very start of the elite coaching pathway, with Athlete to Coach, we hope to accelerate the development of talented athletes who want to use their knowledge and experience as a competitor to coach others to follow in their footsteps.

"This isn't always an easy transition to make, but our sports have told us if we can equip these athletes better, it could have a great impact on our coaching workforce.

"With the launch of the Coaching Fellowship, we have two exceptional inaugural Fellows in Sir David Brailsford and Jurgen Grobler, who will help us champion and raise the bar for British coaching in the future."

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