British Cycling facing leadership vacuum after Julie Harrington moves to British Horseracing Authority

British Cycling is facing a leadership vacuum ahead of the rearranged Tokyo 2020 Games after its chief executive confirmed plans to swap saddles and instead take the reins at the British Horseracing Authority.

Julie Harrington, 51, will take over as chief executive of racing’s ruling body in the New Year, replacing Nick Rust, who announced his intention to leave in February.

She leaves British Cycling after a turbulent two years in which the organisation dealt with the fallout of doping investigations and was dealt a fresh £30million blow when HSBC UK triggered a break clause in its eight-year sponsorship deal. Reflecting on her short spell in cycling, Harrington said "there have been challenges but it has been hugely rewarding and a lot of fun."

Harrington becomes the first woman to head racing’s regulator, having been seen as a strong contender from an early stage when it emerged in April that she was interested in the post.  She arrives at the BHA head offices in Holborn, London, having already spent four years as a non-executive board member until stepping down last year.

Top of her agenda will be to address the financial consequences of Covid-19 on racing’s participants and racecourses. The prize-money cuts that have followed have pushed horsemen’s representatives and the tracks into open hostility.

Brexit and the impact of the government's review of the 2005 Gambling Act will also require a response while a new horse welfare strategy, announced in February which includes a consultation on jockeys’ use of the whip, has to be implemented.

Harrington, whose notice period at British Cycling expires seven months before the rearranged Games, said: “I’m so excited to be coming home to racing and playing my part helping this great sport to achieve a prosperity from which everyone benefits. I know how important collaboration across racing has been over the past few months and I look forward to working with colleagues from all parts of the sport. The BHA and its team of dedicated officials do a great job in keeping racing safe, clean and fair. I am proud to take on this leadership role in such a well-regulated sport, which enriches the lives of horses and people, and has a special place at the centre of national life and our rural communities.”

Her CV also includes a spell as operations director for the FA, when she was responsible for Wembley Stadium and the training facility at St George’s Park.

She previously spent eight years as a senior executive with Northern Racing before it became part of the ARC group of racecourses and managed Uttoxeter for a time. However, she joined British Cycling in March 2017 at the most challenging period in the governing body's period.

Within months of her arrival in 2017, Harrington dealt with the fallout as Doctor Richard Freeman, the medic at the centre of the Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins Jiffy bag scandal, resigned. A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service accusing him of ordering a batch of testosterone to British Cycling’s Manchester headquarters in 2011 concludes in October.

British Cycling said in a statement that it is now beginning recruitment for “one of the best jobs in British sport”. British Cycling Chair Frank Slevin said: “Julie will leave with the good wishes of the Board and everyone at British Cycling."

However, former British Cycling president Tony Doyle said the timing of her departure was disappointing. "I'm disappointed but not surprised to see her go at a time when we need firm strong leadership," he told the Daily Telegraph. "Sport in the UK and across the globe is in difficult times with what's going on and this is a time when we need some strong leadership. Unfortunately, Julie's decided to go back to a world which she knows better.