Phillips Idowu tweets he is 'happy 4 Peter Eriksson' after appointment of new head coach of UK Athletics Describing himself as more of a "quiet personality" compared to the outspoken and combative Van Commenee, Eriksson said his approach to the head coach's job would be to listen to the needs of his coaches and athletes and help them to peak at major championships, though he would not shirk making the tough decisions where necessary. "My strength as a coach is in leading and inspiring the athletes and the coaches to greater things," he said. Communication is a part of it. It's about listening and taking in and trying to find solutions to things. Eriksson's appointment is a reward for the spectacular success of the UK Athletics Paralympic programme, which he has overseen since joining the governing body at the start of 2009. At the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, Britain's track and field athletics won just 17 medals and finished 18th in the athletics medals table. Under Eriksson, Britain rose to become the third-ranked athletics nation in London with 29 medals, 11 of them gold. A new Paralympic head coach will now be appointed to lead the programme into Rio. Born in Stockholm, Eriksson's introduction to elite sport was as a long-track speed skater but it is his work as a disability coach that has earned him worldwide respect. In all, he has coached athletes to 122 medals at Paralympic Games since 1984, including the 14 gold medals won by his most successful athlete - the great Canadian wheelchair racer, Chantal Petitclerc. Eriksson's golden touch continued this summer when, as well as being overall Paralympic chief, he was the lead coach for double Paralympic wheelchair racing champion Hannah Cockroft. His knack of getting his athletes to peak at major championships - something that cannot always be said of Britain's able-bodied athletes - was one of the main reasons for his appointment, according to UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos. "Peter's job is to concentrate on the athletes he thinks are potential finalists and to make sure as many of them as possible perform on the day," said De Vos. That's the thing that Peter has proved over his 20 to 30 years as a coach. People he works with do tend to peak on the right day, and that's what we need. Eriksson's appointment follows the decision of Van Commenee to quit as head coach after failing to hit his publicly declared target of eight track and field medals at the London Olympics. Although Britain did win four golds, Van Commenee said he had no choice but to leave because his management system was based on personal accountability. Asked whether he thought the high-profile Van Commenee would be a hard act to follow, Eriksson said: "I don't focus on it that way. I focus on the things we have to do to make it better. It's about what's next. "I can't focus on "am I better than Charles or not?" I think he did a great job. Four gold medals was excellent. But I don't focus on that because now is a different time.