Johnny Davis appointed Great Britain Olympic Team Manager

Following an end of season review for 2018/2019, British Fencing is expanding the roles and responsibilities of the BF Olympic Team Manager to provide leadership and support across all weapons as they prepare their athletes for next year’s Games in Tokyo and the Paris Games four years later.

Davis is no stranger to high-level competition with being a two time Olympian and coach. For the last two seasons he has also been Great Britain’s Team Manager for the Senior European and World Championships, Foil Weapon Manager, as well as being nominated BOA Team Leader for fencing.

In taking on these new responsibilities, Davis will be working with the BF Weapon Managers, the Athlete Development Programme Team of coaches and staff and the wider organisation. The remit will be to identify the needs of each weapon and to develop the strategies to maximise performances at future Senior European and World Championships with the goal of qualifying as many athletes for both Olympic Games as possible and to achieve medal success for Great Britain.

Central to this role will be the reinforcement of a professional culture based on personal responsibility to deliver their best performance at the highest level of the sport. In addition, Davis will be working with the BF Athlete Development Programme to explore how the programme can provide more support to senior athletes progressing along the athlete performance pathway as part of setting BF’s post Tokyo Strategy in this area.

Talking about the wider remit of the new role, Davis said “I am delighted to be able to play my part in creating a future where we can support those athletes striving to be the best they can possibly be. The recent success we have achieved at International level shows that we have fencers capable of achieving at the top level of International competition. The challenge for us all looking forward is to ensure that this success is achieved consistently”

CEO Georgina Usher added “Our very best athletes continue to demonstrate the motivation, commitment and professionalism to succeed despite the challenges faced by lack of funding. The expansion of Johnny’s role creates an exciting opportunity for BF to support both these athletes and the next cohort of senior athletes across all 6 weapons as they all aim for success at the highest competitive level of the sport.”

In order to allow Davis to focus on this role in the run up to the Tokyo Games, a new Foil Weapon Manager will be appointed on an interim basis to support with administration.

Profile: Johnny Davis

• Member of GB Olympic Fencing team – Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992
• Member of GB Fencing Team – World Championships Barcelona 1985, Lausanne 1987, Denver 1989, Lyon 1990, Budapest 1991
• Member of NI Fencing Team – Commonwealth Championships 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, winner of one silver and two bronze medals.
• Member of NI Age Group Cross Country Team 2007 – Home Internationals – Scotland.
• Member of Irish team – European Age Group Duathlon Championships – Edinburgh 2007
• Member of Irish team – European Age Group Triathlon Championships, Lisbon 2008.
• Qualified Fencing Coach – International Grade 5