Date 15. 02. 2006 (3261) |

Former BMX World Champ, Jamie Staff To Head Up Great Britain Olympic Effort - Official British Cycling Communication - The GB Team's BMX programme has received a major boost this week with the announcement that former world BMX champion and current Track World Champion Jamie Staff is to head up a new support staff structure. Staff, who is currently based in the USA, will be returning to the UK to take up his new post in time for the 2006 season. Track racing's recent move towards a winter season means that Staff can devote the BMX closed season to is own racing ambitions, whilst spending his summers driving forward the Team's ambitious BMX programme. He intends to continue his Track Racing career up to the Beijing Olympics. Staff will be joined by four-times national BMX champion, Geth Shooter, who will handle the day-to-day running of the GB Team's BMX programme. Jeremy Hayes, who has overseen the first year of BMX as an integral part of the lottery-funded GB Team, will head up the BMX strand of the GB Team's Olympic Talent Team, which is devoted to finding young riders in their mid-teens with the potential to compete at the highest level. He will be joined by a team of five part-time coaches, including Nigel Page, Richard Townsend and Mike Pusey. GB Team Performance Director Dave Brailsford explained the thinking behind the new structure: "We've had a year to look at the sport of BMX and we now know a lot more about its current state and the way the UCI intend to take it as a global sport. We also know a lot more about the level we need to be at if we are to qualify for and be competitive at the Olympics in 2008. I believe that the new structure we are putting in place will enable us to take the squad to the higher levels of performance necessary to compete in 2008 and 2012. "We're obviously excited to have secured the services of Jamie, a star of both Track and BMX, and he understands our system and how we operate. He's incredibly committed to BMX and I believe his input on the overall direction of the team and on the riders' conditioning will be crucial to our future success. "Geth Shooter is an ideal person to deal with the day-to-day running of the programme. The thing I like about him is that he's passionate about winning and will offer a great deal of technical and tactical input. "Jeremy has an exciting new challenge. BMX has so much potential: it's facility based; it's ideal for families and it attracts young riders. The BMX strand of the Olympic Talent Team can open up a way into the Team for so many young people as well as underpinning the broader sport of cycling. Jeremy's coaching looks set to make a major contribution to that process."