Rod Carr CBE, the former Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Performance Director and Chief Executive, has been announced as the new Chairman of UK Sport.
The appointment comes as UK Sport embarks on the new Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic cycle, investing a record £355 million of National Lottery and Government funding into Britain's athletes, with the aim to win even more medals in Rio than were won at London 2012.
Carr brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked in high performance sailing, largely at the RYA leading one of Great Britain‟s most successful Olympic programmes, for over 30 years. His experience spans various roles including coach, Performance Director and Deputy Chef de Mission at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Rod Carr said: “Having worked in the British sporting system and with UK Sport for many years, I feel honoured to be entrusted with leading this high performing organisation into the Rio cycle.
“Our job is to ensure our Olympic and Paralympic athletes are best placed to keep delivering those magical moments that we all enjoyed last summer, to inspire the next generation for many years to come. The ambitious goal to win more medals in Rio will be our toughest challenge yet, but I‟m confident that we can deliver.
“I look forward to working with our partners, particularly the four home country sports councils, to ensure we are better aligned than ever before, to continue to develop British sport and the system supporting our athletes, which is already highly regarded around the world.”
Over the past 10 years, Carr has been a valued member of the UK Sport Board, and also acted as a Panel member for UK Sport‟s Mission 2012 performance monitoring process, offering guidance and expertise across all sports, which helped produce the incredible medal hauls by Team GB and ParalympicsGB at last summer‟s Games. Over the past year Carr also contributed to evaluation panels for „project Rio‟, which helped inform UK Sport‟s investment allocations for Olympic and Paralympic sports in the Rio cycle.
Liz Nicholl, CEO of UK Sport, said: “The appointment of Rod Carr as Chair of UK Sport is fantastic news for the high performance community.
“Rod has excellent credentials; having led one of our most successful world class programmes he knows exactly what it takes for sports and athletes to reach and remain at the top of their game for a prolonged period of time. Rod is respected by our Board members and staff for his contribution and commitment over the past 10 years as a UK Sport Board member. He will be a fantastic leader for the organisation as we look to use the platform created by London 2012 to develop a stronger more sustainable high performance system.
“I‟d like to take this opportunity, on behalf of UK Sport, our partners and the athletes we‟ve supported, to publically thank our outgoing Chair Baroness Sue Campbell for her outstanding leadership over the past 10 years. Sue played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of our athletes last summer and securing the fantastic position we are now in, with the support of Government and The National Lottery, to aim for an even better performance in Rio.”
Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the British Olympic Association, said: “I look forward to working with Rod and Nick Bitel, as Chair of Sport England, as we seek to build upon last year‟s remarkable summer of sport and inspire people of every age to take up sport and benefit from its life-changing values. London 2012 should represent the beginning of a new era for sport in our country, and our partners at UK Sport and Sport England can count on the full support of the British Olympic Association in building upon the momentum from those remarkable Games.”
Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of the British Paralympic Association, said: “The choice of Rod Carr as the next Chairman of UK Sport is good news for high performance sport in this country. His many years at Sailing, combined with his time as a member of the UK Sport Board, mean that there is little he has not seen or experienced first-hand and he is a worthy successor to Baroness Campbell. His undoubted commitment to Paralympic success will also be important as we move into a Rio cycle which is seeing record levels of investment into Paralympic sport, and the British Paralympic Association looks forward to working closely with him and his colleagues to achieve this.”
Sarah Treseder, CEO of the RYA, said: “Rod has such a wealth of experience of the high-performance sporting landscape, and an enviable track record of delivering the support and systems that ensure medal success at the highest level. As such he is a fantastic appointment for the UK Sport Chairmanship.
“We wish him every success in his new role, and look forward to working with him and the UK Sport team to deliver the RYA‟s part in British Olympic and Paralympic success at Rio 2016 and beyond.”
Carr, who succeeds Baroness Sue Campbell in the role of Chair at UK Sport, will take up his post immediately. Campbell steps down after serving the maximum two terms in post, having overseen a transformation in the British high performance system, whereby British athletes are now among the best supported in the world and the UK is regarded as one of the world‟s leading nations for hosting major sporting events.
Baroness Sue Campbell said: “I am genuinely delighted with the appointment of Rod Carr as the new Chair of UK Sport, and that one of our own Board members can continue the great work of the organisation. I have every confidence in Rod to lead UK Sport to scale new heights in the next Olympic and Paralympic cycle.”