A Legacy Built On People | Hilliard Takes His Final Bow

For 42 years, Craig Hilliard has been a steady force in Australian athletics, guiding athletes and coaches alike with an instinctive understanding of people and a devotion to their success. Now, as he retires from a life spent on the track, his impact resonates across generations.

The philosophy that has defined his career is simple, with success measured not only by medals but the lives he has helped shape:

“Coaching is all about understanding what makes athletes tick. You’ve got to know what buttons to push and when not to push those same buttons,” Hilliard says.

“If you don’t understand people, you can’t coach.”

Hilliard’s journey from a young physical education teacher in Melbourne to a mentor of champions began in 1982, when he committed to join the newly formed Australian Institute of Sport.

His once-daunting move to Canberra to take an initial role as an apprentice coach became the next chapter of his storied coaching career, taking him from the sidelines of high school spots to the grand stages of eight Olympic Games, 18 World Championships and seven Commonwealth Games.

“It was a leap of faith because I was coming out of my comfort zone in Melbourne, where I had everything at my fingertips. I thought let’s give it a year, I’ll probably end up back in Melbourne in the fitness industry or something. It would have been very easy to stay where I was and do what I was already doing.”

Throughout those years at the AIS, Hilliard’s approach combined both art and science, as he applied the precision of physiology and biomechanics with an unyielding focus on understanding his athletes and mentees as individuals.

Guiding the likes of Australian greats not limited to Olympic, world and Commonwealth medallists including Jai Taurima, Kerry Saxby-Junna, Jana Pittman, Jane Flemming, Nathan Deakes and Rohan Robinson - yet he’s quick to point out that each athlete has required something different.

“You learn very quickly that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.”

For Hilliard, the thrill of coaching lay not just in public victories but in the quieter, personal triumphs that often happen away from crowds.

“It’s hard in the coaching world because you’re always governed by results but there’s a euphoria seeing an athlete realise their potential, knowing that a small cue or training breakthrough turned things around.”

It is those moments, he believes, that define a coach’s impact – the flashes of joy, and the connection and the knowledge of how to perform on the world stage when it counts has made a difference.

It wasn’t just athletes who benefited from Hilliard’s wisdom over the years. As Athletics Australia’s Head Coach and later as a mentor, he became a guiding light for the next generation of Australian coaches including the likes of medal-winning Mike Barber, Matt Beckenham, Matt Horsnell, Russell Stratton, Alex Stewart and Paul Burgess.

“Seeing coaches grow and develop their craft – that’s satisfying. I may have had a 1 or 2% impact,” he says humbly, “but it’s incredibly satisfying to see them get results, to be a sounding board and to help them through both coaching challenges on and off the track.

“There are moments when you feel on top of the world, like coaching is easy, and then there are times when everything goes wrong. As long as you can reset, prioritise and make sensible decisions and learn from any mistakes you made, will make all the difference.”

As he steps away, he finds comfort in the strength of Australia’s coaching group, whose development he considers essential to the sport’s long-term success.

“The level of performance now is exciting and it’s been a slow burn. With many of these athletes having come through junior programs, they’ve put in the work and now they’re showing the world what they can do.”

Retirement, he admits, is bittersweet. “You miss it, but in a funny way, you don’t,” he says with a laugh. “Thanks for the memories,” he says simply, a farewell to the community that has been his life’s work.

As he moves on to this next chapter, his impact remains a testament to what coaching can be – a journey measured in lives touched, in knowledge shared and in a quiet yet unwavering dedication.

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 8/11/2024