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track and field

Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Peter Eriksson is about to return to coaching in Canada.

Athletics Canada will officially introduce Eriksson as head coach of its Olympic and Paralympic program on Wednesday, according to sources.

The 60-year-old Swede stepped down as head coach of British Athletics on May 15.

Eriksson coached in Canada for nearly 20 years, earning coach of the year honours at the 2005 Canadian Sport Awards for guiding wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc to five gold medals at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.

Petitclerc repeated that feat four years later, in Beijing, earning Eriksson Athletics Canada's coach-of-the-year honours.

Athletics Canada, which has scheduled a conference call for 2 p.m. (EDT) Wednesday, cleaned house in January, firing head coach Alex Gardiner and chief high-performance officer Martin Goulet following Canada's disappointing performance at the 2012 London Summer Games.

The organization named Scott MacDonald its new high-performance director in March.

Canada had set a target of three athletics medals in London but fell short, coming away with just one – Derek Drouin's bronze in high jump.

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