Badminton England today confirms that after eight years, Jon Austin has taken the decision to step down from the role of Performance Director with immediate effect.
During those eight years, Jon has led our medal ambitions and has been at the helm through some of the most challenging of times for our organisation but also successful times, having overseen the campaign that secured Olympic medal success at Rio 2016 when Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis won their historic bronze. Then, following the unexpected withdrawal of funding by UK Sport in 2017, Jon’s resilience and leadership ensured that many players were able to continue to pursue their dreams.
Jon was also instrumental in establishing a Para-Badminton Programme which qualified four athletes for the inaugural Paralympic Games badminton competition in Tokyo this summer, leading to the amazing scenes when Dan Bethell won silver and Krysten Coombs won bronze.
Jon Austin said: “As I step away, I reflect on an incredible experience. I feel enormously privileged and find it impossible to put into words what it has meant to me to do my dream job in the sport that means so much to me.
“There have been many highs, too numerous to mention and also some significant lows. Our loss of funding was one such low; telling staff and players what had happened, and the consequences for us will live with me forever. Whilst it was an incredibly difficult moment, I will always remember with pride and admiration the reaction of the team and the unwavering determination to do all we could to maintain our medal ambitions.
“The last six years in particular have been demanding on me and I have reached the point where I believe the time is right to step away and allow somebody else with fresh energy and ideas to take our programmes forward. Funding has been reinstated which is brilliant news, so I believe new leadership will have every opportunity to put in place what is needed to build for the future.”
Badminton England Chair, Mike Robinson, said: “With over 40 years of involvement in our sport, I know this has been a difficult decision for Jon. He leaves his role as Performance Director with our thanks and gratitude, but I am delighted that he will continue to work on strategic projects for Badminton England, that will benefit from his invaluable experience and perspective. “
Stephen Baddeley, Chair of GB Badminton, added: “On behalf of the GB Board, I would like to express our disappointment in seeing Jon leave. His passion, commitment and expertise will be missed and difficult to replace. We thank him for his dedication and service over the last eight years and are pleased that Jon will support our Performance Team through this period of transition to new leadership.“
The process for the recruitment of a permanent Performance Director will be announced in due course.
