Sarah Rowell, the former interim chairwoman of UK Athletics from February to August 2019 and also led UK Athletics’ 2015 internal review into its handling of the Alberto Salazar scandal, has inexplicable step down from the governing body’s board a year earlier than planned.
Although the inquiry cleared Mo Farah to continue working with former coach Salazar, who was later banned from the sport in 2019 after being found guilty of doping violations.
“No pressure was applied to me by the new leadership to leave,” Rowell, who will depart at the end of this month, told BBC Sport.
The former Olympic marathon runner is the first senior departure since Joanna Coates became UKA’s new boss since February.
“UKA has recruited strong performance knowledge and having been chair I found it it hard to step back to just being an ordinary board member. I had discussions earlier this year about not being involved any longer,” she added.