USA Triathlon Names Jonathan Hall Performance Leader

USA Triathlon announced today the hiring of Jonathan Hall, a highly regarded multisport coach and mentor, to the newly created Performance Leader position.

Hall joins USA Triathlon from the Victorian Institute of Sport in Melbourne, Australia, where he served as the triathlon head coach. He previously worked as an assistant coach and specialist coach with Triathlon Australia’s national program, mentoring athletes to a number of world championship titles and an Olympic Games appearance.

Hall’s duties at USA Triathlon will include managing the relationships among the High Performance staff and elite athletes’ individual coaches, developing team camps and training modules and implementing race-day strategy. Additionally, Hall will direct the resident athlete program at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center and lead USA Triathlon’s coaching excellence program.

His debut event with USA Triathlon will be the Clermont (Fla.) International Triathlon Union Pan American Cup on March 3.

USA Triathlon is thrilled to welcome Jonathan Hall to our High Performance staff. His addition will complement the talented team already in place led by High Performance General Manager Andy Schmitz,” USA Triathlon CEO Rob Urbach said. “Our aim is to regularly place U.S. elite athletes on the podium at world championship events and the Olympic Games, and Jonathan will help us reach that goal.”

“I look forward to joining USA Triathlon’s strong team of elite athletes, coaches and staff. My aim is to bring an outside perspective to the High Performance team and create a collaborative platform for future performances so that USA Triathlon reaches its full potential and consistently posts medal-winning performances at the sport’s biggest events,” Hall said.

Hall’s expertise is focused on all areas of athlete and coach development — both systematic and strategic — in pursuit of podium finishes at world championship events and the Olympic Games. He possesses a wealth of experience mentoring coaches and has led extensive triathlon programs in Australia and Europe.

After earning Level I and Level II coaching certification from Cycling Australia in the 1990s, Hall worked his way through Levels I, II and III coaching certification from Triathlon Australia upon retiring as a competitive athlete.

As an athlete, Hall was a member of the Cycling Australia National Team before winning more than 40 duathlon events, including the 1997 ITU Duathlon World Championships title. As a cyclist, he represented Australia at a pair of UCI Road Cycling World Championships with a top showing of eighth in an elite time trial race. Hall won a title at the Australian Road Race Championship and recorded two Australian Time Trial Championship victories.

With Hall’s addition, Schmitz will direct the operations and administrative side of the High Performance staff. Schmitz will continue to guide strategic planning, including race-related resourcing and staffing, and will develop and manage the department’s annual budget. He will direct USA Triathlon’s talent identification and athlete development programs, serve in an advisory capacity to the Elite Triathlon Academy and manage relationships with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the ITU and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.