#5 Great British Bosses - Jane Allen, British Gymnastics

This is Great British Bosses by Anything but Footy. We profile the women and men responsible for sport in this country - many at national governing bodies - who manage teams, staff, budgets, grass-root participation and overseeing those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. This episode, we're in Lilleshall and the base of British Gymnastics with Chief Executive Jane Allen. Formerly of Gymnastics Australia, Jane arrived in 2010 and oversaw the remarkable transformation of a sport that won its first men's Team medal in 100 years in London, produced a double Olympic champion in Rio in Max Whitlock and is planning for more glory at Tokyo 202. Not only is it excelling in elite sport, it now has 400,000 members across the UK, growing every year, with waiting lists at some gymnastics clubs for youngsters to take to the floor! We ask Jane about her role, her and her team's success and when she's back in Oz with a glass in her hand what she'll look back on as her biggest achievement. She also tells us in her view 'it's not a coincidence the 2022 Commonwealth Games were backed by Government and brought to Birmingham. Why wouldn’t you have something that would have the same impact as London had, when you’ve just made one of the biggest political decisions of your life in exiting Europe. I think Sport is so uniting and I’m so proud of what it does. If a Government stopped funding sport it would be a very brave one!' So it seems the future is bright for British sport and gymnastics in particular! And if there's someone who you think is a Great British Boss - and would make a good podcast - please free to get in touch on twitter @AnythingbutF and using the hashtag #GBBosses or contact us through our website www.anythingbutfooty.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices