ESTEEMED COACH ARNOLD AWARDED IOC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Esteemed coach Malcolm Arnold OBE has been awarded an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coaches Lifetime Achievement award for his work in the sport.

In a career that spanned nearly 60 years until retiring from athletics in 2016, Arnold was responsible for the success of some of Great Britain & Northern Ireland’s and the world’s best international hurdlers.

The annual event recognises one male and one female coach that have played a part in helping athletes on the road to the Olympic Games and those who have gone above and beyond in their role as a coach to instil the values of an Olympian in their athletes.

Some of those British athletes to benefit from his coaching included 60m hurdles world record holder and former 110m hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson. He guided the Welshman to 110m hurdles silver at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 before coaching Jackson to the World Championship title in 1993, setting a world record 12.91s, which remains the championship record.

His other world championship gold medallists include Dai Greene (Benke Blomkvist; Swansea), who claimed the title in 2011 in Daegu, following on from his Commonwealth Games triumph in Delhi and European title in Barcelona, both of which he accomplished in 2010.

He guided Lawrence Clarke to fourth in the 110m hurdles final at the London 2012 Olympics and, more recently, played a part in Andrew Pozzi (Santiago Antunez; Stratford-upon-Avon) claiming the European indoor 60m hurdles title in Belgrade in 2017.

Speaking to the Olympic website, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Congratulations to the two winners on this prestigious award.

“This is a recognition of the fundamental role that these coaches had on generations of athletes, inspiring them with the Olympic values and helping them realise their dreams. I know from my own experience the fundamental role coaches play in a career of an athlete.”

He will receive his award at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday, 17^th January, alongside Germany’s Ulla Koch.