Triathlon: Elliott confirmed as new HP boss

Mark Elliott in his role with Cycling at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Photo / Photosport

Triathlon New Zealand today have announced the appointment of Mark Elliott as its High Performance Director.

Elliott is no stranger to Tri NZ and knows first-hand what is required for success on the world stage. He was Performance Director for Tri NZ between 2000-2004 and during that time led the programme to achieve dual Olympic Medals in Athens and 6 World Championship Titles.

He is excited to rejoin the team and says that "...having had an incredibly enjoyable and successful time in the sport a number of years ago, it's exciting to see that there's still as much talent and abilities from an athlete and coaching perspective in New Zealand."

"I'm looking forward to bringing it together over this next Olympic cycle to maximise those opportunities," he said.

After Tri NZ, Elliot spent two years leading the strategic restructuring of Snow Sports New Zealand and assisted seven Winter Olympic sporting bodies to develop longer term strategic intents.

For the past nine years, Elliot has successfully lead the strategic development of Tier One HP athletes for Cycling New Zealand.

Six Olympic medals, 26 Commonwealth Games medals and 87 World Championship medals have been secured under his leadership.

Mark is an excellent team leader and also has an extensive coaching background. This will serve him well as he begins to develop the younger talent coming through in the sport.

"I've only touched the surface from watching a couple of the youth races, and I'll get a better feel of that when I'm down at School Champs in Wanganui this week," he said.

"It looks like there's a whole lot of kids out there learning the basics of the sport, but they're also showing a commitment to it, and that's what you're looking for," he said.

Recently, a number of High Performance sports have moved into the Cambridge area which Elliott is keen to build on.

"I think there's a good opportunity for Tri NZ to continue building on what the real opportunities are in a centralised environment," he said.

"I look forward to working with the athletes from the top tier right through to the development squad. As we share and learn from each other, that's going to be the secret to our success," he said.

Mark will start in his new role on 5th April 2017.