Les Gramantik is about to lose his job as head coach with Athletics Canada, but will retain a post within the organization.
Gramantik has been told that the organization is restructuring its program and has decided to go in a different direction after having him at the helm for two years. His contract as head coach expires in December.
An official decision is to be made at the Athletics Canada technical congress in Toronto in two weeks. With additional funding coming in based on a good performance by the track and field team in Beijing, it's expected that some new high performance centres will be set up in which Gramantik will play a role.
The head coach's job is to be redefined.
"We want to maximize our assets and want to make sure we're using Les's brilliance as a coach in the right capacity," Athletics Canada boss Joanne Mortimore said in a statement last night.
It's hard to know the direct impact Gramantik had as head coach. He oversaw the team at major events like the Olympics and Pan Am Games, but had little direct involvement with athletes outside of those he coached personally such as heptathlete Jessica Zelinka.
As world 800-metre silver medallist Gary Reed noted, Gramantik probably had an equal amount of supporters and detractors on the national team.
"You'd find sort of a mixed reaction," said Reed, who finished fourth at the Beijing Olympics. "It's a tough position, eh. When you don't deal with someone on a day-to-day basis, it's hard to form an opinion. I think Les came into the sport at a really tough time. But I do think change is good. I wish him well."
