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ormer Sport Australia chief executive, Kate Palmer, has been named the CEO of OneAthletics for the next 12 months to lead the merger between Athletics Australia and Little Athletics Australia.

As part of the merger, current Athletics Australia CEO, Darren Gocher, will leave his role in April, as the two bodies are set to become Australian Athletics as part of the process.

In a media statement, Palmer said she has a goal of helping athletics become the largest participation sport in Australia.

“The opportunity to work with Athletics Australia and Coles Little Athletics Australia to bring to life Australian Athletics through the ‘OneAthletics’ project is one I look forward to enormously,” Palmer, who was CEO of Sport Australia for three years, said.

“I am excited to be appointed to this role and look forward to working with the athletics community around the nation to transform athletics into the largest participation sport in the country.

“There is a place for everyone in athletics and the vision for athletics in Australia is clear, to create a pathway that will drive life-long involvement from Little Athletics to juniors, seniors, and masters,” she said.

The move comes after Palmer was elected to the Athletics Australia board of directors in November last year, with the goal of shaping the future of athletics in Australia.

With the departure of Gocher, Palmer will reportedly lead Australia’s athletics programs in the lead up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in July.

As the CEO of OneAthletics, Palmer will lead the merger process and focus on the detailed work of building a new national sporting organisation (NSO), as the two bodies will transform into Australian Athletics in 12 months.

Despite the appointment, the two bodies will vote on the merger in October this year, with the vote expected to result in an official merger and the recruitment process for the new chief executive of Australian Athletics to begin shortly after.