Australian triathlon coach Jonathan Hall, whose partner is Olympic hopeful Erin Densham, has taken a job in the United States six months out from the London Games.

The move means Hall can no longer coach Densham as she tries to make the Australian Olympic team.

Brendan Sexton, another London Games hopeful, had also been working with him.

Hall ran the Victorian Institute of Sport program and had also worked as an assistant coach in Triathlon Australia’s high performance squad.

USA Triathlon (USAT) announced on Tuesday that Hall would become their “Performance Leader”, a newly-created position.

“Our aim is to regularly place US elite athletes on the podium at world championship events and the Olympic Games and Jonathan will help us reach that goal,” USAT chief executive Rob Urbach said in a statement.

Densham said after finishing fourth at Sunday’s national sprint-distance championships in Geelong that Hall’s move was a “loss” for Triathlon Australia.

She raced at the Beijing Olympics and is an outsider to make the London team.

Sexton used Twitter to comment on Hall’s move.

“I’d be very excited if I was an elite US triathlete right now,” he said.