Joel Filliol named Triathlon Australia Podium head coach

Canada’s Joel Filliol will “be entrusted with leaing Triathlon Australia’s pre-eminent training environment with a focus on working with athletes capable of podium performances at major international events.”

Filliol was the “senior coach” for Triathlon Canada from 2006 to 2008, serving as the head coach at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 when Simon Whitfield, who he personally coached at the time, took the silver medal to go along with the gold he won in 2000 in Sydney. Filliol has since served as the head coach for British Triathlon, working with Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, and also served as the Olympic performance director for the Italian Triathlon Association. His independent triathlon squad, #JFTcrew, has racked up over 30 World Triathlon Series wins and includes athletes like Mario Mola, Katie Zaferes and Vincent Luis, who have won a combined six world championship titles.

“I’ve been working closely with Australian athletes and staff over the last few years, and have been fortunate to support some very strong international performances through these partnerships,” Filliol said in a release distributed by Triathlon Australia.“When the possibility arose to expand this relationship through the Podium Centre Head Coach role, I knew the quality of the people involved, the vision and ambition of Triathlon Australia, and that this was the right time, and the right opportunity for me to make a long-term contribution to the success of Australian athletes on the world’s stage.”

Two years ago Triathlon Australia fired head coach Jamie Turner, who had also previously been a head coach with Triathlon Canada, for  what media reports described as a “major breach of contract” just before a WTS event in Japan.

According to the press release announcing Filliol’s new position “The appointment of Filliol, alongside the creation of the TA Podium Centre, is a key strategic element of the TA High Performance Plan towards Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028. The appointment also marks the first stage of the rollout of a refined coaching strategy … With the upcoming focus on Tokyo 2020, Filliol will continue to work with a number of Australian athletes in contention for the Olympic team.”