Cycling New Zealand high performance director Mark Elliott has decided to step aside from his role in the organisation.
Elliot had been in the role for nine years and led the creation of the high performance programme established the centralised programme in Cambridge.
"It is something I have been thinking about for some time," said Elliott.
"Our performances across the board at the Olympics were below target and while this has been a difficult decision, it would have been easy to do straight after Rio," he said.
"However that was not the right time to step away from the programme I’ve led for nine years. I wanted to ensure the momentum of the programme and to oversee the detailed review of all aspects of the campaign that has now been submitted to High Performance Sport New Zealand."
Mark Elliot (Photosport)
In the time that Elliott has led the high performance programme, New Zealand has won eight world championship titles on the track and road, set-up a pathway partnerships for young riders, a high performance programme for BMX, key support for world champion mountain bikers and most recently the establishment of the Regional Performance Hub development programme.
Cycling New Zealand chief executive Andrew Matheson praised Elliott for his contribution to the sport.
"Mark has been the guiding hand for establishing a world-class high performance programme which he has achieved virtually single-handed," he said
"He has a unique knowledge of high performance sport as a former athlete, coach, medical professional and administrator. I am sure he will be an asset where ever he turns in the future, and hope he is not lost to sport in this country.
"We understand his decision and we will dedicate ourselves as an organisation to learning from Rio and taking the opportunity to relook at our structure and direction in high performance to convert rainbow jerseys into medals in Tokyo."
Newshub.
