THE Scot who led Britain’s sailors to the top of the Olympic medal table in Rio has been charged with maintaining the phenomenal success of a different sport after being named as British Cycling’s new performance director.

Glasgow-born Stephen Park, 48, who grew up in Helensburgh, has been the Royal Yachting Association’s Olympic manager for 15 years. He is the first person to hold the cycling post since Sir Dave Brailsford’s departure to concentrate on Team Sky in April 2014.

Park said: “I feel privileged to be given this opportunity, and look forward to building on the high-performance culture at British Cycling. Cycling poses very different challenges from sailing, but it’s a sport I am very passionate about.

“I’m looking forward to meeting its challenges head on and working intensively with a highly motivated and experienced group of athletes, coaches and support staff.”

Britain amassed 23 Olympic and Paralympic sailing medals during Park’s time as manager. He also competed for Team GB at the 1992 and 1996 Games. He should be in place at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester in time for April’s Track World Championships in Hong Kong.

Park learned his trade as a sailor while growing up in Helensburgh. He was crowned Scottish Schools champion in Mirror dinghies, before moving away to university and eventually settling in Hampshire.

He gained a degree in sport in the community at the University of Strathclyde, then followed that up with a diploma in Management Studies at Newcastle University before adding a degree in Recreational Management at Loughbrough University.

The appointment of a non-cycling specialist means there could be further restructuring of the coaching programme. British Cycling are without a technical director after Shane Sutton’s resignation in April this year over allegations of discrimination. Despite the disruption to preparations, one of a series of ongoing crises in British cycling in 2016, Great Britain won six gold medals from 10 track events at the Rio Olympics and were the dominant team at the Paralympics.

Park will be tasked with ensuring that dominance continues at the Tokyo 2020 Games and beyond. A new technical director could be appointed to work with him with current head coach Iain Dyer a likely contender for the role.

British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake is set to leave in early 2017, so Park joins during a period of major transition at the governing body of Britain’s most successful Olympic sport.

Chris Boardman, the 1992 Olympic winner and a key protagonist in British Cycling’s successes since, was part of the selection process. He said: “The standard of applicants was predictably high and, in appointing Stephen, I am extremely confident that we have someone in place who can go forward and build on the fantastic success British Cycling has enjoyed.

“The role calls for a highly effective, ambitious leader with a track record of successfully delivering at the highest level, and an ability to get the most out of our cyclists. Throughout the selection process, it was very clear that Stephen demonstrates each and every one of these characteristics.”

UK Sport performance director Chelsea Warr said: “In this critical appointment of Stephen Park – well known across the system as Sparky – we have brought in one of our world-class performance system’s most successful leaders. In collaboration with the brilliant coaches and support team at British Cycling, I am very confident that Stephen will lead the programme to achieve even more success in the Tokyo cycle and beyond.”