Here is the real impact of creating gender equity in high performance coaching.
In 2019, at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, GB & NI Athlete Chris McAlister was left without his personal coach Marina Armstrong, as she was unable to get hold of a coaches accreditation.
In fact, she wasn’t the only female coach who was unable to do so. Not a single female coach was issued a coach accreditation by British Athletics, whether that be a Team Coach for GB, or a coach to a GB athlete.
In an interview with the FCN back in October 2019, Chris stated Marina wasn’t present with him at the Championships because she couldn’t get accreditation for the track. Chris and his coach instead communicated via WhatsApp, with Marina providing last-minute cues and advice before each of his races.
Now, 18 months after the publication of our research project “Achieving Gender Equity in High Performance Athletics Coaching in the U.K’ and after 18 months working in consultation with UK Athletics – we can demonstrate the tangible change made.
Pictured on the right above, Chris McAlister is pictured with his coach Marina Armstrong and team mate Jessie Knight, as Marina proudly displays her coaching accreditation to the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
