Britain’s preparations for the World Athletics Championships are facing more turbulence with Darren Campbell, the popular head of sprints and relays, no longer with the team as they fly to Budapest.
Officially Campbell is on sick leave, but the Guardian also understands that his absence comes amid differences of opinion with the UK Athletics technical director, Stephen Maguire, including over the direction of the 4x100m relay team.
It is unclear whether Campbell, who was appointed in 2021, will return in the future, but under his watch both Linford Christie’s 100m British record and John Regis’s 200m records – which had stood for 30 and 29 years respectively – were broken by Zharnel Hughes in 2023.
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Campbell has also worked closely to mentor Hughes after the talented sprinter false-started in the Olympic final in Tokyo, and that work has led to his becoming one of the favourites for a medal in Budapest.
UKA did not comment when approached by the Guardian. The former world indoor champion Richard Kilty, who was reserve for the relay team, is now helping out behind the scenes.
However Campbell is likely to be missed by many athletes given his bubbly nature and decades-worth of experience as an athlete, mentor and coach. He was a presence as recently as the UK trials in Manchester last month, where he was seen congratulating Bianca Williams when she hit the qualifying time for Budapest in the 200m.
Campbell – who was also the last British male athlete to win individual medals in short sprints outdoors at world and Olympic level, having won 200m silver at Sydney 2000 and 100m bronze at the 2003 worlds in Paris – did not respond to a request for comment.
However his absence is the latest in a series of bumps in the road for the sport’s governing body in the build-up to the world championships, that begin on Saturday.
Last month it faced heavy criticism after selecting a small squad for Budapest, which meant that 15 qualified athletes missed out.
Those missing include the shot putter Amelia Strickler, the sprint hurdler Joshua Zeller, the hammer thrower Kenny Ikeji and the 400m hurdler Lina Nielsen, who were invited by World Athletics based on their rankings position only to be told by UKA that they would not accept those invitations.
Last week UKA was also accused of operating as a “boys’ club” after selecting 10 male coaches and no women for the world championships, although the governing body does have more female members of staff going to Budapest overall.
