Peter Eriksson (coach)
Encyclopedia
Peter Eriksson is an athletics coach who is currently the Head Coach of UK Athletics
Paralympic Program.
Eriksson has over 30 years of Coaching Experience in Speed Skating and Track and Field; he has a record of coaching athletes to win 119 medals at Paralympic Games, in addition to similar amounts of medals in World Championships and other major international events. Eriksson is the most successful Paralympic Track and Field coach in Paralympic history.
Additionally, he has personally coached athletes to international medals, including Jeff Adams
, Kelly Smith, Rainer Kuschall, Heine Koboerle, Rick Reelie, Clayton Gerein (1964–2010), Christoph Etzlstorfer, Daniella Jutzeler (1967–1994), Håkan Eriksson
, Bo Lindqvist, Jan-Owe Matsson, Tatyana McFadden, Chantal Petitclerc
.
Peter is also a co-founder of the World Series for wheelchair racing, a series of international high calibre wheelchair racing events across the world 2003 to 2009
As a young man he was interested firstly in athletics, and competed in the in sport of Speed Skating for 17 years (1963–1980). He participated in the Sprint World Championships in 1977 and 1979 with the best performance of 10th place in the 500 meter in 1977 World Championships. During his Speed Skating career he represented Södermals IK and Pollux speed skating clubs. From 1972 to 1983 he worked as a fireman on Östermalms Fire Station in Stockholm.
In 1980 Eriksson participated as an apprentice coach at the 1980 Olympic Games for the Swedish Track and Field Association. During these games Peter met Gusti Laurell former Swedish National Coach that became his mentor coach he has influenced him throughout his coaching career. In addition to Gusti, Herman Buuts former National Head Coach of Sweden and Holland helped him with summer training during his last two active years as a speed skater. Herman has also had a tremendous impact on Peter’s coaching philosophy and interest in track and field throughout his career.
Eriksson first became involved in coaching after the end of his speed skating career. He began his coaching career in Stockholm with a junior speed skating team and around 1982 moved over to coach Paralympic Track and Field athletes. The transition occurred while studying at Boson Sports School east of Stockholm where he met a wheelchair track athlete with the name of Ronnie Schuttman who asked Peter to coach him.
Peter completed his master degree in physical education at GIH (University of Stockholm). He teaches in schools around Stockholm for a couple of years before starting research in Physiology on Spinal Cord Injuries at the University of Stockholm for Professors Per-Olof Åstrand and Bjorn Ekblom until 1986. During this period Eriksson acted as the Head Coach for the Swedish Paralympic Team and coached several international top wheelchair athletes such as Jan-Owe Matsson, Bo Lindqvist, and Hakan Eriksson.
Between 1988 to 1996 Peter acted as a Head Coach for the Wheelchair Racing athletes in Track and Field with CWSA (Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association), from 1996 onwards he coached primarily as a personal coach for several top Canadian & USA wheelchair racing athletes such as Jamie Bone, Clayton Gerein, Rick Reelie, Jeff Adams, Kelly Smith, Brent Lakatos, Scot Hollonbeck, Tatyana McFadden, Colette Bourgonje and Chantal Petitclerc.
Since arriving in North America Eriksson have coached athletes from 10 different countries; namely Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, Sweden, Canada and United States.
Eriksson was the first Paralympic Track and Field Coach in Canada certified at Level 5 (NCCP) for track and field.
Eriksson acted as the High Performance Director for Speed Skating Canadian between 1992 to 1995, which led to 4 medals during the 1994 Olympic Games. In 1995 Eriksson moved into working in the high technology field until 2005.
In 2005 after being the first Paralympic coach awarded Canadian Coach of the Year and inducted in the Terry Fox Hall of Fame. The same year accepted Head Coach Track and Field position for US Paralympic Committee where he worked for a year. After this period Peter worked as High Performance Advisor for Own the Podium (funding agency for elite sport in Canada) until January 2008 when he started his current position as Head Coach Track and Field for the Paralympic programme at UK Athletics.
2008 – Coach of the Year – Athletics Canada
2008 – The Order of Ikkos, United States Olympic Committee
2008 – Coaching Association of Canada, Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award
2006 – Coaching Association of Canada, Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award
2005 – Coach of the Year – 32nd Annual Canadian Sport Awards; First Paralympic Coach to ever receive this honor, this award is for all sports in Canada
2005 - Introduced to the Terry Fox Hall of Fame
2005 – Coach of the Year – Ontario Sport Awards
2004 – Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association (CWSA) – Coach of the Year
2004 – Coaching Association of Canada, Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award
2000 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1998 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1997 - Dr. Robert Jackson, Outstanding Volunteer Award Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association
1996 - Nominated for the 3M Coaching Award. Coach of the Year
1996 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1995 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1993 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1991 - Nominated for the 3M Coaching Award. Coach of the Year
1990 - Nominated for the 25th Annual Air Canada Amateur Sport Awards. Coach of the Year.
1989 - Coach of the Year, Manitoba Wheelchair Sports Association, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1986 - Wheelrose Person of the year, Rehabilitation Group, Sweden.
1980 - First Olympic Reserve, Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, New York.
1977 - Number 10 in the world (500m), World Speed Skating Championships, Holland.
UK Athletics
UK Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials....
Paralympic Program.
Eriksson has over 30 years of Coaching Experience in Speed Skating and Track and Field; he has a record of coaching athletes to win 119 medals at Paralympic Games, in addition to similar amounts of medals in World Championships and other major international events. Eriksson is the most successful Paralympic Track and Field coach in Paralympic history.
Additionally, he has personally coached athletes to international medals, including Jeff Adams
Jeff Adams
Jeff Adams is a Canadian Paralympian and a six-time world champion in wheelchair sports. He has competed at six consecutive Summer Paralympics from 1988 to 2008, winning a total of three gold, four silver, and six bronze medals...
, Kelly Smith, Rainer Kuschall, Heine Koboerle, Rick Reelie, Clayton Gerein (1964–2010), Christoph Etzlstorfer, Daniella Jutzeler (1967–1994), Håkan Eriksson
Håkan Eriksson
Håkan Eriksson is a Swedish orienteering competitor. He received a silver medal in the relay at the 1989 World Orienteering Championships in Skövde, and received a bronze medal in 1999...
, Bo Lindqvist, Jan-Owe Matsson, Tatyana McFadden, Chantal Petitclerc
Chantal Petitclerc
Chantal Petitclerc, CC is a Canadian wheelchair racer.At the age of thirteen, she lost the use of both legs when a heavy barn door fell on her...
.
Peter is also a co-founder of the World Series for wheelchair racing, a series of international high calibre wheelchair racing events across the world 2003 to 2009
Career in Sweden
Peter Eriksson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the only son of Eskil (a construction worker) and Ellen (a switchboard operator). He grew up in Bagarmossen a suburb to the city of Stockholm, and from an early age he was instilled with a strong work ethic from his hard working parents.As a young man he was interested firstly in athletics, and competed in the in sport of Speed Skating for 17 years (1963–1980). He participated in the Sprint World Championships in 1977 and 1979 with the best performance of 10th place in the 500 meter in 1977 World Championships. During his Speed Skating career he represented Södermals IK and Pollux speed skating clubs. From 1972 to 1983 he worked as a fireman on Östermalms Fire Station in Stockholm.
In 1980 Eriksson participated as an apprentice coach at the 1980 Olympic Games for the Swedish Track and Field Association. During these games Peter met Gusti Laurell former Swedish National Coach that became his mentor coach he has influenced him throughout his coaching career. In addition to Gusti, Herman Buuts former National Head Coach of Sweden and Holland helped him with summer training during his last two active years as a speed skater. Herman has also had a tremendous impact on Peter’s coaching philosophy and interest in track and field throughout his career.
Eriksson first became involved in coaching after the end of his speed skating career. He began his coaching career in Stockholm with a junior speed skating team and around 1982 moved over to coach Paralympic Track and Field athletes. The transition occurred while studying at Boson Sports School east of Stockholm where he met a wheelchair track athlete with the name of Ronnie Schuttman who asked Peter to coach him.
Peter completed his master degree in physical education at GIH (University of Stockholm). He teaches in schools around Stockholm for a couple of years before starting research in Physiology on Spinal Cord Injuries at the University of Stockholm for Professors Per-Olof Åstrand and Bjorn Ekblom until 1986. During this period Eriksson acted as the Head Coach for the Swedish Paralympic Team and coached several international top wheelchair athletes such as Jan-Owe Matsson, Bo Lindqvist, and Hakan Eriksson.
Career in North America
Eriksson moved to Edmonton, Canada in September 1987 after spending a year in New York City. He continued his research at the Stedward Centre (formerly known as the Rick Hansen Centre) at the University of Alberta under Professors Robert Steadward and Yagesh Bhambhani until 1992, when he moved to Ottawa, Ontario. During his research period Eriksson published more than 18 scientific research articles on his work.Between 1988 to 1996 Peter acted as a Head Coach for the Wheelchair Racing athletes in Track and Field with CWSA (Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association), from 1996 onwards he coached primarily as a personal coach for several top Canadian & USA wheelchair racing athletes such as Jamie Bone, Clayton Gerein, Rick Reelie, Jeff Adams, Kelly Smith, Brent Lakatos, Scot Hollonbeck, Tatyana McFadden, Colette Bourgonje and Chantal Petitclerc.
Since arriving in North America Eriksson have coached athletes from 10 different countries; namely Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, Sweden, Canada and United States.
Eriksson was the first Paralympic Track and Field Coach in Canada certified at Level 5 (NCCP) for track and field.
Eriksson acted as the High Performance Director for Speed Skating Canadian between 1992 to 1995, which led to 4 medals during the 1994 Olympic Games. In 1995 Eriksson moved into working in the high technology field until 2005.
In 2005 after being the first Paralympic coach awarded Canadian Coach of the Year and inducted in the Terry Fox Hall of Fame. The same year accepted Head Coach Track and Field position for US Paralympic Committee where he worked for a year. After this period Peter worked as High Performance Advisor for Own the Podium (funding agency for elite sport in Canada) until January 2008 when he started his current position as Head Coach Track and Field for the Paralympic programme at UK Athletics.
Personal life
Married Rhonda Nishio (1955) in 1992 in Ottawa, father of four daughters, Jaclyn (1994), Jennifer (1995), Jasmine (1999), Julia (2002). Main family resident Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commuting from Solihull, UK with his present work.Coaching – Awards
2008 – Coach of the Year – CWSA, Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association2008 – Coach of the Year – Athletics Canada
2008 – The Order of Ikkos, United States Olympic Committee
2008 – Coaching Association of Canada, Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award
2006 – Coaching Association of Canada, Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award
2005 – Coach of the Year – 32nd Annual Canadian Sport Awards; First Paralympic Coach to ever receive this honor, this award is for all sports in Canada
2005 - Introduced to the Terry Fox Hall of Fame
2005 – Coach of the Year – Ontario Sport Awards
2004 – Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association (CWSA) – Coach of the Year
2004 – Coaching Association of Canada, Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award
2000 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1998 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1997 - Dr. Robert Jackson, Outstanding Volunteer Award Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association
1996 - Nominated for the 3M Coaching Award. Coach of the Year
1996 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1995 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1993 - Coaching Association of Canada, Wittenauer Coaching Excellence Award
1991 - Nominated for the 3M Coaching Award. Coach of the Year
1990 - Nominated for the 25th Annual Air Canada Amateur Sport Awards. Coach of the Year.
1989 - Coach of the Year, Manitoba Wheelchair Sports Association, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
1986 - Wheelrose Person of the year, Rehabilitation Group, Sweden.
1980 - First Olympic Reserve, Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, New York.
1977 - Number 10 in the world (500m), World Speed Skating Championships, Holland.
External links
- http://www.insideworldparasport.biz/insideparasport/9103-no-excuses-warns-eriksson-as-gb-a-ni-team-arrive-in-new-zealand-for-athletics-world-championships
- http://www.insideworldparasport.biz/insideparasport/9090-weir-aims-to-qput-down-a-markerq-as-british-contingent-departs-for-2011-ipc-athletics-world-championships
- http://www.insideworldparasport.biz/blogs/232-parablog/8983-peter-eriksson-its-more-than-just-the-medals
- http://insidethegames.biz/component/content/article/232-parasport/3754-top-foreign-coach-appointed-for-2012-paralympics
- http://insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/athletics/5956-column-mike-rowbottom-interviews-uk-athletics-new-paralympics-head-coach-peter-eriksson