ATHLETICS:Athletics Ireland have targeted Max Jones, Britain's former high performance director, to fill their new role of athletics director - one of the key positions in the continuing overhaul of structures within the sport. Jones is currently in Australia and considering the terms of the offer.
With coaching expertise in a variety of events, including throws, Jones headed Britain's high-performance programme from 1997 until 2005, and still acts as strength and conditioning coach to Paula Radcliffe. He oversaw a European Cup success but had mixed success at major championships, and he resigned after the European Indoors in Madrid two years ago.
Earlier this month, he criticised British structures, claiming the distribution of lottery funding during the build-up to the 2012 London Olympics needed a major overhaul, and that too many of the country's top athletes were wasting the public's money.
Athletics Ireland believe he has the right attitude to lead the sport forward here over the coming years, with his role including the overseeing of competition structures and the coaching and the development of aspiring young athletes. They hope to confirm the appointment in time for the European Indoor championships in Birmingham in early March, although it would be next September before Jones would move into the job full-time.
His last major event with Britain was the 2004 Athens Olympics, where they won three gold medals - and since being replaced by Dave Collins things have clearly slipped, and at the European Championships in Gothenburg last year the team failed to win a single gold medal in an individual event.
This news follows last week's appointment of former sprinter Gary Ryan as the national director of coaching, and former long jumper Jacqui Freyne as director of development. However, they're also searching for a new high-performance manager, a largely administration position, following Elaine Fitzgerald's decision to step down in March.
Back on the track, meanwhile, Alistair Cragg has decided to skip Friday's Millrose Games in New York and instead will run the mile race at his US base in Arkansas on Saturday week, and that will be his last race before the European Indoors. Cragg ran 7:52.68 to finish fourth over 3,000 metres in Boston at the weekend - a little short of his target - and wasn't much quicker than the 7:55.06 Mullingar's Martin Fagan ran to win a college meeting also in Boston on the Friday night.
James Nolan will run in New York after his 3:58.85 mile for fourth in Boston while Erin Kinnear smashed her Irish indoor pole vault record in Florida with 3.87 metres, improving on her previous effort of 3.75.
Finally, European under-23 cross country silver medallist Fionnuala Britton continued her fine form in Belgium on Sunday at the Lotto Cross Cup, finishing fifth in 19:25, 30 seconds behind the winner, Florence Kiplagat from Kenya.
•Niels de Vos, the chief executive of Sale Sharks rugby union club, is expected to be unveiled today as the new chief executive of UK Athletics. De Vos is set to be named as the successor to David Moorcroft, who steps down after nine years in the job.
