CANBERRA track and field athletes will be free to stay at the AIS until October but Athletics Australia is refusing to guarantee their future in the capital beyond that until they begin a new scholarship system.
The AIS athletics program will disappear on Wednesday when AA takes charge of scholarships and decides how much funding each athlete will receive.
New AA high-performance director Simon Nathan told The Canberra Times athletes - including Olympian Lauren Boden - would be able to remain in Canberra and train at the institute under a new program. All AIS athletics scholarships end on Tuesday.
From Wednesday, athletes will perform under the AA banner with the governing body taking charge of funding scholarships as part of the new Winning Edge program.
The short-term patch is to give the ''majority'' of AIS athletes a holding AA deal until October 1 when the coaching structure and scholarship set-up is finalised.
Nathan also said he would not ''force'' Canberra coach Matt Beckenham - who coached three athletes to Olympic Games berths last year - to leave the capital, but said ''it was to early to say'' if AA would ask him to move. While the AIS athletics program has diminished in recent years, it has consistently produced Olympians and Paralympians.
''The AIS scholarship-holders are slightly different and we'll transfer the majority of them over and extend support [as of April 30] as AA scholarships,'' Nathan said.
''The new system will start on October 1 … as far as this short transition period goes, absolutely [they can stay in Canberra].''
Beckenham has in the past expressed his desire to remain in Canberra to work with his rising stable. He has helped mould star sprinter Melissa Breen, hurdlers Lauren Boden and Brendan Cole and now Chloe Jamieson.
Beckenham was also contracted to work as an AIS coach with scholarship-holders Boden and Cole. But that ends this week and AA's decision on his coaching involvement will play a large factor in his future.
The race walking program has been based at the AIS for 33 years and has claimed five of Australia's past 10 Olympic medals in athletics. But star Jared Tallent will move to Adelaide to be closer to family and the new AA structure only gives scholarships depending on results at world championships and national titles.
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