Black the new British athletics chief

London: Neil Black was appointed performance director of British athletics on Thursday, the former physiotherapist replacing Charles van Commenee after the Dutchman confirmed he would step down in December.

Van Commenee announced his departure on Wednesday after failing to meet his target of eight track and field medals at the London Olympics, including one gold, even though the team bagged four golds and six medals overall.

Black, a pivotal figure in the success of British athletics for 20 years, will oversee the next Olympic cycle to the 2016 Games in Rio and the 2017 world championships in London.

“It is an honour to be given the chance to lead the Olympic and Paralympic Task Force and be asked to lead colleagues with whom I have worked hand in glove for the last four years,” Black told a news conference.

Black added a “number” of strong candidates were being considered to replace Van Commenee, who said the former UK Athletics (UKA) head of sports science and medicine was far and away the best man for the performance director’s job.

“I cannot think of any person within the top end of our sport who is more respected than Neil Black. You will be struggling to find any athlete who has anything negative to say about him,” he said alongside Black.

Van Commenee was proud of his work at the forefront of British sport despite not reaching his targets at the Olympics.

“The thing I’m most proud of is the culture we’ve set together. It’s a high performance culture which enabled us to get rid of the cynicism and negativity around our sport.

“There’s more confidence and belief. These things are a condition for more development.”