Athletics turns to rugby to find saviour

It is possible Moorcroft could ask more people involved in athletics to take up the role, such as former distance runner Ian Stewart, now a meeting director, or Jon Ridgeon, the ex-hurdler.

But he may also try to persuade two figures who have enjoyed World Cup and Olympic success in rugby and cycling to take up the challenge - the Rugby Football Union's performance director Chris Spice and Peter Keen, the man behind cycling's renaissance in this country.

Despite Kelly Holmes's double Olympic triumph and the men's surprise sprint-relay gold, the performance of the British athletics team at the Athens Olympics was disappointing, especially from the men.

Sport England and their fellow Lottery-distributor UK Sport will not continue handing out millions of pounds each year to athletics unless they see a revolution in thinking.

The performance director's job involves ensuring top athletes have the best coaches and sports science available and focusing the minds of athletes and coaches on winning medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The candidate needs to show incredible attention to detail as well as possessing great motivational and media skills. Spice, who played a key role in helping England win the Rugby World Cup, would be a fascinating choice.

Woodward is full of praise for the former Australian hockey player who moved into rugby from his country's Institute of Sport and set up a system for finding new players. The fact the 44-year-old hardly knew the difference between a tight-head and a loosehead prop at the time but still made his mark in rugby shows he would not be fazed by stepping into athletics.

At Twickenham Spice has been unashamedly elitist about the priority of getting the best players in England squads.

Moorcroft said: "We want someone who will wake up every morning thinking about how to get people on to a podium."

He has said there are several figures in athletics who could be ready to take the job in four years' time but need more experience.

If he is looking for someone who could groom a future performance director for several years, Keen could be the perfect choice.

Keen is a sports-science expert who coached Chris Boardman to his Olympic track title and world hour record before taking over as performance director of the British Cycling Federation in 1997.

His world-class performance programme, led to the renaissance of cycling in this country with success at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

Keen prepared the way for his successor Dave Brailsford to take over his job smoothly and has now gone on to become a consultant for UK Sport, where he gives advice to other sports.

Moorcroft has admitted that, if he cannot find the right person in the next three weeks, he may have to wait until after the Beijing Olympics before appointing a performance director. Whether that will satisfy Sport England chiefs is another matter. The former distance star needs one person on his hit list to bite.