Ali Khalil has been appointed Australian Taekwondo's national performance pathway lead ©Australian Taekwondo

Australian Taekwondo has appointed Ali Khalil as its national performance pathway lead.

The new role was made possible thanks to a workforce grant from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Khalil's focus will be on steering a performance pathway which identifies and nurtures talented taekwondo and Para-taekwondo athletes.

The cadet, junior and senior classes will all come under his purview. 

Developing and assisting a coaching network - which should in turn help with spotting and improving taekwondo players - is another focus.

Ali Khalil has coached brother Safwan, pictured, at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 ©Getty Images
Ali Khalil has coached brother Safwan, pictured, at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 ©Getty Images

Khalil is a taekwondo coach with Olympic experience from London 2012 and Rio 2016.

A new entity for Australian combat sports, which will handle high-performance programmes for boxing, judo and taekwondo, is being established at the start of 2021 and the Australian Taekwondo national performance pathway lead is expected to work closely with that entity's pathway manager and taekwondo technical lead.

However, Australian Taekwondo is still responsible for the Tokyo 2020 high-performance programmes until the postponed Olympics and Paralympics are complete, meaning Khalil's work will be aimed at Paris 2024 and beyond.

Once a defined pathway is established, Australian Taekwondo will be able to apply for AIS funding to support activities within its strategy, including training camps and participation in international competitions.