Clubhouse - news in brief
This page will be updated with briefs of the latest athletics news.
May 5, 2021
England Athletics has been given an allocation of only 68 athletes for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Kelly Sotherton, Team Leader for the England track and field team at the Games, said: “Clearly, we would love to take the largest possible England track and field team to Birmingham 2022 as a ‘home’ Commonwealth Games. We recognise that the size of Team England is decided by the Commonwealth Games Federation, therefore, we will continue to work with Commonwealth Games England as there may be the potential to increase the number of athlete places as we get closer to the Games. We will keep our athletes, coaches and the wider sport updated with any developments.
“Every invitation from our para-athletes to compete next year will be accepted, meaning we could potentially have a 36-strong team which is incredibly exciting. Regardless of how many track and field athletes and para-athletes represent Team England in 2022, the staff at England Athletics will be doing everything we can to support them in achieving their best and ensure their experience of competing at a ‘home’ Games will stay with them forever, whilst exciting the nation and inspiring a future generation of athletes and para-athletes.”
April 30, 2021
Four Russians have been given the green light to compete in international competition as neutral athletes. They are: Mariya Lasitskene (high jump), Anzhelika Sidorova (pole vault), Ilia Ivaniuk (high jump) and Aksana Gataullina (pole vault).
No more than 10 will be granted Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) eligibility this year though.
April 28, 2021
World 1500m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan will race 10,000m at the FBK Games in Hengelo on June 6.
“I want to run a fast 10,000m in Hengelo.” she said, of the Continental Tour Gold meet in the Netherlands. “Hengelo has a long tradition in very quick long-distance races and it fully suits in my schedule towards Tokyo.”
April 16, 2021
Maurice Doogan, British Masters track and field secretary for a number of years pre-pandemic, has died aged 81.
He died after an illness in a nursing home in Brighton on Wednesday (April 14) with British Masters publishing a hefty tribute to mark his major role in the sport.
A former chartered structural engineer and distance runner with Woking AC, he joined British Masters around the turn of the millennium and soon became a powerful figure in domestic and international veterans athletics, devoting huge amounts of time to the sport on a voluntary basis.
He organised a number of large events in the UK and his expertise was used by international masters organisers too. Often he would spend his own money to do a recce for an overseas event and he astounded fellow masters organisers with his workload and attention to detail.
His efforts also included trying to get the world or European masters championships to London to be staged at the Olympic Stadium. He did not succeed there but his dream of seeing British masters all wearing the same kit came to fruition, while he also saw the GB team top the medals table at the 2018 World Masters Championships in Malaga.
April 11, 2021
Team Bath AC athlete Natasha Lewis has died after being hit by a car during an early morning run in Somerset.
She was part of the GB bobsleigh squad and at various times ranked in the top 100 in the UK for 60m, 100m, 200m indoors, long jump, triple jump, triathlon, 10km, half marathon and 50km.
Fellow Bath runner and Olympian Emily Diamond was among those to pay tribute, calling the news "heartbreaking", whereas a GoFundMe page has already raised several thousand pounds.
https://twitter.com/EmilyDiamond11/status/1380261875192061955?s=20
April 10, 2021
Myrtle Augee won the Commonwealth shot put title in 1990 and competed in the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics before going on to win a European weightlifting title in 1995.
And now, 26 years later, another former track and field athlete, Emily Godley, has become the first British winner of a European weightlifting title since Augee.
Godley was a 3.51m pole vaulter with Blackheath & Bromley and reached three English Schools finals.
History for @EmilyGodley! 🥇
The 31-year-old lifted 129kg in the clean-and-jerk stage to become the first British European Senior Weightlifting champion in 26 years.
— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 7, 2021
April 9, 2021
Oslo's Diamond League meeting on June 10 will now be held later in the summer. Organisers say it is "impossible to arrange a normal meeting on the planned date" based on the coronavirus reopening plan for Norway.
Meanwhile, L'Equipe reports that the Rabat Diamond League on May 23 will also be postponed.
April 3, 2021
Martin Hyman, one of Britain's leading distance runners in the late 1950s and 1960s, died on April 3 aged 87.
He was ninth in the 1960 Olympic 10,000m and fourth in the 1958 Empire Games six miles and 1962 European 10,000m, while on the country he was third in the 1961 International Cross Country.
Racing for Portsmouth AC at his peak, he held the British record for six miles with 27:54.4 and even beat the great Abebe Bikila in the 1962 San Silvestre road race.
A lifelong athletics fanatic, he subscribed to AW for more than 60 years and was a regular letter writer to the magazine. He was also chairman of the International Athletes' Club for 10 years and later moved into coaching in Scotland with Livingston & District AAC.
April 3, 2021
Callum Wilkinson believes race walking is as technical as the high jump and the winner of the British Olympic 20km trials at Kew Gardens says he has totally rebuilt his style in the last year under his new coach Rob Heffernan.
Wilkinson is now based in Ireland with Heffernan, the 2013 world champion, and despite missing the Olympic qualifying time of 81:00 at the trials, he believes he can nail it soon.
"I think walking should be seen at the same level as high jump," he says. "It is so technical that it is an art form. I think this has been neglected in the UK and there's been the view that 'if you can get through a race two cards then that's okay'.
"Rob has rebuilt my technique from scratch (during 2020). I picked up injuries to begin with but I was changing my gait which is fundamental so it wasn't a big surprise. I was having to correct some very worn-in traits that really needed changing.
"I think I can now compete with the best of the world because I now have the technical capability."
March 31, 2021
Pat Butcher, a long-serving middle-distance running coach with City of Portsmouth AC, has died on March 18 aged 83. She coached, among others, Commonwealth 1500m champion Mike East and English National cross-country champion Justin Pugsley.
In addition she was part of the South East Hants schools and Portsmouth schools athletics systems, organising track and field, Sporthall athletics and cross-country races.
March 30, 2021
Eliud Kipchoge and Tirunesh Dibaba lead the line-ups at the NN Mission Marathon Hamburg on April 11 (note, this has now moved to April 18 due to Covid-19).
Kipchoge faces Ugandans Filex Chemonges and Stephen Kiprotich, Ethiopia's Aberu Kuma and Tadesse Abraham from Switzerland, whereas women's entries include Kenya's Gladys Chesire, South African Gerda Steyn and Germans Deborah and Rabea Schoneborn and Katharina Steinruck.
March 28, 2021
Kevin O'Connor, a British ex-pat based in Uganda, has been doing a fine job to promote AW in Africa for a number of years by handing out old issues of the magazine as prizes to athletes.
The pandemic put a hold on things for a while as there were no competitions in the country in 2020 but recently the National Trial was held at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala and O'Connor gave out 177 copies of AW to athletes! These included Halimah Nakaayi, the reigning world 800m champion.
O'Connor relies on readers sending him old copies incidentally and he is always grateful for further magazines ent to: Kevin and Sue O’Connor, PO Box 40295, Kampala, Uganda.
March 27, 2021
Chris Thompson and Steph Davis qualified for the Tokyo Games in style at Kew Gardens but what were they wearing on their feet? Turns out both runners raced in Nike Vaporfly Next% as they booked their tickets to the Games.
Thompson, however, is sponsored by "On" but clearly has an agreement with the company to wear partially disguised Nike super shoes. Davis is not sponsored at all, meanwhile, but chose to wear Next%.
Natasha Cockram, runner-up in the women's race, seems to be in the same sponsorless boat as she was wearing Nike Alphafly but is often pictured in Asics clothing. Third-placed Rosie Edwards also wore Alphafly.
Ben Connor, the men's runner-up, wore New Balance Fuelcell TC whereas third-placed Mo Aadan raced in Next%. Pacer and pre-selected Callum Hawkins appeared to be wearing a yet-to-be-released New Balance Fuelcell RC V2, while Dewi Griffiths wore the Asics Metaracer.
March 26, 2021
The Fukuoka International Marathon in December is the 75th edition of the race and it will be the last one too. Organisers of the elite-only men’s event took the decision due to a lack of sponsorship and high TV production costs.
Former winners include Haile Gebrselassie, Frank Shorter, Toshihiko Seko, Rob de Castella and Britain's Bill Adcocks. In 1967 Derek Clayton ran a world record on the course.
March 22, 2021
Clive Marsh, long-time stalwart with Newquay & Par AC in Cornwall, died this month after a lengthy period of illness.
After getting involved in athletics in the mid-1980s to support his children, Kim and Brett, he went on to become a popular, hard-working and successful coach. He guided a number of athletes to English Schools success, often in the pole vault, whereas until recently he coached the talented 18-year-old high jumper Sam Brereton.
“For Clive, it was always about the athlete," his club said in a statement. "He quietly worked with the athletes, never wanting to take the limelight but he was so much more than just a superb coach. He was a real character, full of life, drive and sheer enthusiasm for people and the human spirit.
“It was amazing to see him on a Thursday engaged with the young eight to eleven-year-olds and then in a flash, be able to connect with teenagers and coach them specific technical sessions. This is a truly special skill, and he was a natural.”
Such was his enthusiasm for the sport, in addition to coaching he worked as groundsman at his local Par track and often worked from dawn til dusk to get the facility shipshape for competitions.
The 74-year-old had battled leukaemia in recent years but he died on March 7 after cellulitis in his leg turned into sepsis.
Due to coronavirus restrictions on funeral attendances, there will a 'last lap salute' to Marsh on April 6 at Par track near St Austell.
March 19, 2021
Dilshod Nazarov, the men's Olympic hammer gold medallist at Rio 2016, has been banned for two years after testing positive for turinabol after his samples from the 2011 World Championships were re-tested.
World Athletics president Seb Coe has now asked him to step down as the president of the Tajikistan athletics federation.
Nazarov’s win in Rio was the first Olympic gold gained by Tajikistan since it gained independence from the old Soviet Union. But the 38-year-old will not be allowed to defend his title in Tokyo.
March 18, 2021
Mo Farah and leading Ethiopian female runner Yalemzerf Yehualaw are among the early entries for the Antrim Coast Half Marathon according to the Belfast Telegraph.
Farah won the race last year and this time it takes place on August 29, shortly after the end of the Tokyo Olympics. Jo Pavey, Sam Harrison, Tracy Barlow are also set to run while Marc Scott has shown an interest in running again after finishing runner-up to Farah at the event last year.
The 63rd NUTS Annual is out featuring high jumper Tom Gale on the cover. This statistical review of British athletics in 2020 compiled by the National Union of Track Statisticians covers an unusual pandemic-hit year.
Contents include UK all-time lists, records, results of major meetings and internationals, Peter Matthews's UK merit rankings, comprehensive 2020 lists for all age categories and an index of all included athletes.
For the first time the annual includes UK all-time indoor lists, fully-detailed 20-deep for seniors and 10 deep for U20, U17 and U15 age categories. CLICK here for more details.
March 13, 2021
Almost 20% more live television viewing hours were recorded for the European Indoor Championships in Toruń compared to the previous edition in Glasgow two years earlier.
No doubt largely thanks to Mondo Duplantis, Sweden’s live market share increased from 10.58% in 2019 to 25.51% this year.
BBC2 coverage of the European Indoors saw 14.3 million live viewer hours, with a peak audience of over 1.6 million & live market share of 7.8% for Sunday evening’s finals. via @EuroAthletics
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 12, 2021
March 12, 2021
The oldest national athletics body in the world, the Amateur Athletic Association of England, has named its latest officers at its 141st AGM.
Walter Nicholls is chair, with Geoff Durbin the honorary secretary and Mike Welford the treasurer.
March 11, 2021
Japan stages its first mass participation road race on Sunday with the Nagoya Women's Marathon.
Launched in 2012, the event is the world’s largest women’s marathon and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is a World Athletics Platinum Label race.
Around 5000 women are expected to run, but there are no entrants from outside Japan.
After the Polish 4x400m men's team withdrew from the European Indoor Championships due to a coronavirus out-break, the British team have been forced to isolate on their arrival back in the UK after one of the support staff tested positive.
And now Inside the Games reports that two members of the French support team have tested positive plus some of the Ukrainian women in the 4x400m – Anna Ryzhykova and Katerina Klymyuk, plus reserve relay member Alina Lohvynenko.
March 7, 2021
Paul McMullen, an American middle-distance runner who represented the United States at the Atlanta Olympics, died on March 4 after a skiing accident in Michigan aged just 49.
McMullen was a regular on the BMC circuit in the UK a few years ago and won the US Olympic trials in 1996.
His PBs included 3:54.94 for the mile and 3:33.89 for 1500m.
March 3, 2021
USATF has announced a 10-meet "Journey to Gold - Tokyo" series, which will feature over $1 million in prize money.
The events will run from April 3 to June 6 and USATF chief executive Max Siegel said: “Working with our partners all over the country, we’ve put together a fantastic schedule, providing athletes with much-needed, high level competitions."
Read ore about it here.
Yohan Blake, the former world 100m champion, says he would rather miss the Tokyo Olympics than take a Covid-19 vaccine.
"My mind still stays strong, I don’t want the vaccine," Blake told the Jamaica Gleaner. "I would rather miss the Olympics than take the vaccine."
March 1, 2021
This summer's English Schools Track & Field Championships in Manchester is likely to feature a reduced number of competitors with each of the three days dedicated to a specific age group.
Plans are being made for the senior boys and girls to compete on Friday July 9 followed by the intermediate age group on Saturday July 10 and juniors on Sunday July 11 at Sportcity with a maximum of 16 competitors in each event.
Part of the reason is to minimise travel and accommodation. In a letter to county secretaries, the English Schools AA says that despite coronavirus restrictions gradually lifting it cannot risk spending an estimated £200,000 block booking hotels as it usually would.
The plans also include using officials primarily from the north of England, publishing results online only instead of printing them and possibly scrapping formal medal ceremonies.
"We may receive some negative feedback around this decision," says the ESAA, "but one of our high priorities must be the continued existence of the Association and a 'hit' in the region of £200,000 would come close to ending our existence, which we are sure is a much worse outcome than a reduced championship where at least some of our athletes can compete."
This month's cross-country championships, which were due to be held in Kent, are now being staged as a virtual competition.
February 24, 2021
The world of athletics has been acknowledged in both the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award and the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis are battling it out for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award after stellar seasons, while Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei is nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.
I am really honored to be nominated besides #Armand duplantis, #Lewis Hamilton #Lebron James #Robert Lewandowski #Rafael Nadal for @LaureusSport World Sportsman of the year. pic.twitter.com/8DGYxLDBPv
— Joshua Cheptegei 🇺🇬🇺🇬 🥇🥇 (@joshuacheptege1) February 24, 2021
This year the Laureus Awards will not be presented at an open ceremony, but individually to winners due to the continuing global pandemic. The winners will be announced in May as part of a ‘Virtual’ Awards event.
February 19, 2021
Before the era of Lottery funding, British athletes scrimped and saved to afford physiotherapy treatment, warm-weather training camps or air fares to overseas events. In some cases they were helped by a private sponsor and one of the most generous in the history of the sport was Sir Eddie Kulukundis, who has died aged 88.
Click here to read more.
After jumping, and dancing, her way to four world senior titles and multiple major medals, Blanka Vlašić has officially announced her retirement from competitive athletics.
A hugely popular figure both on and off the track, Vlašić's impressive high jump career included a total of 166 clearances over 2.00m or higher, topped by her 2009 PB of 2.08m which ranks her second on the world all-time list behind only Bulgaria's Stefka Kostadinova with 2.09m.
Click here to read more.
February 18, 2021
Marathon great Eliud Kipchoge has been announced for the NN Mission Marathon in Hamburg on April 11.
The one-off event, organised jointly by Global Sports Communication, the NN Running Team and the Hamburg Marathon, will be the world marathon record-holder’s final outing over the classic 26.2-mile distance before the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, where he will seek to become the third man in history to claim back-to-back Olympic titles.
February 3, 2021
Samuel Tefera, the Ethiopian who won the world indoor title and broke the world indoor record for 1500m in Birmingham in 2018, takes Jakob and Filip Ingebrigtsen, European indoor champion Marcin Lewandowski and Bethwell Birgen in a tasty metric mile clash at the French indoor meeting in Lievin on February 9.
January 15, 2021
Thousands of responses have been logged for UK Athletics' cross-country gender equality survey with Jo Coates, the governing body's chief executive, insisting that nothing has been decided when it comes to potentially equalising cross-country racing distances of men and women.
Click here to read more.
January 14, 2021
Olympic 100m hurdles champion Brianna McNeal has been provisionally suspended for violating World Athletics anti-doping rules.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has charged McNeal “for tampering within the results management process”.
The AIU has charged Brianna McNeal (USA) for tampering within the results management process, a violation of the @WorldAthletics Anti-Doping Rules.
The hurdler has been provisionally suspended.
👁️ ⬇️https://t.co/opInfkVlnV#AIUNews pic.twitter.com/qrY2G8NwWA— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) January 14, 2021
No further details in this case have yet been published by the AIU.
January 11, 2021
Lloyd Cowan, one of the most popular and successful coaches in British athletics, has died aged 58.
As an athlete, he was one of the nation’s top hurdlers but it was as a coach that Cowan really made a name for himself, guiding Christine Ohuruogu to world and Olympic titles and Andy Turner to European and Commonwealth crowns.
Based in north London, he also guided his son, Dwayne, to become one of Britain’s best 400m runners in recent years. Many more benefited from his coaching and his achievements were recognised with an MBE in 2015, whereas in 2013 he was awarded the prestigious Ron Pickering Memorial Award for Services to Athletics.
Click here to read more.
January 9, 2021
One of the most popular British athletes of the post-war period, Bill Nankeville, has died aged 95. A two-time Olympian, he finished sixth in the 1500m final in London in 1948 before going on to capture four AAA one-mile titles and a bronze medal at the European Championships in 1950.
Click here to read more.
January 8, 2021
Long jumper Luvo Manyonga, who overcame a crystal meth drug addiction in early life before going on to win the world title at London 2017, has been provisionally suspended for anti-doping whereabouts failures.
Click here to read more.
Almost a year to the day since 800m runner Alfred Kipketer was provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures, the Kenyan has been officially handed a two-year ban.
Click here to read more.
The USA Indoor Championships, scheduled for February 20-21 in Albuquerque, has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The indoor combined events competition, due to be held as part of the championships, will also not take place.
"USATF's COVID-19 Working Group of medical and scientific experts worked diligently to develop a rigorous set of COVID-19 protocols for conducting the Championships. However, it has become apparent that statewide restrictions in New Mexico and other logistical challenges for the event are too severe to overcome," USATF said.
The host city bidding process has been launched for three World Athletics Series events - the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships, the 2023 World Athletics Relays and the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
"By partnering with World Athletics, a host city takes on a global spotlight, driving the elite profile of athletics both locally and internationally, and encouraging more active communities through legacy programmes that we can help our host cities to develop," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said.
January 2, 2021
Tributes have been paid to long-time official and mentor Sue McKiernan MBE who lost her battle against the progressive deterioration of her health on December 29.
With the backing of her family, McKiernan spent many years giving selflessly to her passion for athletics. She operated at local, regional, national and international level within the realms of track and field. Her special love was field events and her gift was involving and encouraging others.
Information via England Athletics. More can be found on the governing body's website here
December 30, 2020
Former sprinter Donna Fraser, who became UK Athletics’ Equality, Diversity and Engagement Lead in 2017, is among those to have received recognition in the New Year Honours list.
The Olympic 400m finalist, who finished fourth in the 2000 Sydney Games and competed at three other Olympics, becomes an OBE for services to equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
Also among those recognised in the New Year Honours is British Athletics Supporters’ Club vice-president Susan Deaves, a former England team manager and current president of Woking AC, who has been made an MBE for services to athletics.
BEM honours have been received by 1964 Olympic hurdler, Commonwealth medallist and former national athletics coach Peter Warden for services to athletics in north-west England, Rossendale Harriers stalwart Graham Wright for services to athletics and to the community in Rossendale, Lancashire, coach Sophie Dunnett for services to amateur athletics in Scotland and David Adamson for services to athletics and to the community in Burntisland, Fife.
December 23, 2020
The 2021 Millrose Games has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 114th edition of the iconic meeting, which was first held in 1908, had been scheduled to take place on Saturday February 13 at The Armory in New York City.
But the event will now return on February 12, 2022.
The first edition of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships will be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on November 11-14, 2021.
The programme will include vertical uphill mountain races, short and long trail races for senior athletes and the classic mountain races for both seniors and under-20s.
December 22, 2020
Marathon legend Ron Hill has received the Vikki Orvice Inspiration Award from the British Athletics Writers' Association.
Jemma Reekie and Jake Wightman were named athletes of the year.
Click here to read more.
UK Athletics is to launch a consultation to capture thoughts on how cross country running can provide equal opportunities for all participants at all levels in the future.
"Whilst athletics is an incredibly inclusive sport, there could be greater equality in some cross country races and competitions by enabling all athletes access to the same opportunities through the race distances available to them," said the national governing body.
"Recognising that there are differences of opinion as to how best to achieve equality within cross country, we are therefore proposing to undertake a consultative approach with the survey at the heart of it to enable us to better understand the views of clubs, their athletes, volunteers and organisations as to what greater equity in Cross Country should look like and how to deliver it."
The full statement is here.
The 4x1500m world record of 16:27.02 set by the USA's Colleen Quigley, Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer and Shelby Houlihan in Portland on July 31 has been ratified by World Athletics.
The mark improved the previous record of 16:33.58 set by Kenya's Mercy Cherono, Faith Kipyegon, Irene Jelegat and Hellen Obiri at the World Relays in 2014.
December 19, 2020
Stephen Maguire is to leave his role as director of performance and coaching at Scottish Athletics.
The governing body said the Northern Irishman "feels the time is right to return home on a more permanent basis" after holding the position since 2018. He also held a similar role prior to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Maguire will step down at the end of the year, with current head of endurance Mark Pollard to become head of performance on an interim basis for the first half of 2021.
Click here to read more.
December 18, 2020
Jack Miller, stalwart of the British Athletics Supporters’ Club and former chair of the organisation, has died aged 74 after contracting coronavirus during a hospital visit to treat an infection.
Click here to read more.
December 16, 2020
Paul Nihill, the four-time Olympian, European champion and Olympic silver medallist, has died aged 81 from coronavirus.
Nihill was one of Britain’s leading race walkers during a golden era for the discipline in the 1960s.
Click here to read more.
The redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in 2022 is bang on schedule despite the problems created by the pandemic this year.
An inspection this week confirmed the building work is progressing as planned and within its £72.4 million budget.
Click here to read more.
December 14, 2020
A book about sprinter Darren Campbell's life called Track Record is out this week and focuses on his rise from Moss Side in Manchester to becoming European 100m champion, Olympic 200m silver medallist and 4x100m gold medallist.
On his decision to publish the book, Campbell says: "In 2018 I suffered a life-threatening illness and wasn't expected to live. I consider myself incredibly lucky and blessed to still be here. After that brush with death I decided that now was the time for me to tell my story and finally reveal some experiences I've never previously made public."
Among other things he reveals why he moved from Manchester to South Wales after finding out as a youngster that he was on a gangland hit list.
Published by St David's Press, it is out as paperback on December 18 costing £13.99.
Middle-distance runners Keely Hodgkinson and Max Burgin have earned the Dave Cropper Award for the most outstanding performance by a young athlete in 2020.
The duo won the same honour in 2018 and have done it again in 2020 with a prize of £250 from the England Athletics for the Young charity in order to help with their training.
Cropper competed in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics in the 800m and for many years was one of the key administrators at the AAA of England until he died in 2016.
December 13, 2020
World Athletics has ratified the world track records set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei in Valencia in October.
Gidey’s 5000m time of 14:06.62 and Cheptegei's 10,000m mark of 26:11.00 were set on October 7 in the Spanish city.
World pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis is one of the first big-name athletes to show an interest in competing at the European Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, in early March.
“Nothing is confirmed on what I am going to do yet and I am trying to figure out which meets to go to but I would definitely like to see myself back in Torun," Duplantis told European Athletics.
The US-based Swedish athlete set a world record at the same Torun venue at the start of 2020.
December 11, 2020
The English National has joined the Inter-Counties among the list of major cross-country events to be called off this winter. The National was due to be held at Parliament Hill in March but organisers have made an early decision to postpone it, with an ambition to stage it at a later date if the pandemic eases. More on this story here.
The 20th edition of the Great Ethiopian Run has been moved to January 10 - about eight weeks later than planned - due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The size of the field has been limited to 12,5000 - about 30,000 smaller than the 2019 event - with runners setting off in waves that are no more than 1000 runners each. Temperature checks and other Covid-19 measures will also be in place.
December 10, 2020
World Athletics has moved the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, from March next year to 2023. There are still plans to stage the European Indoors in Poland this winter, though, plus the World Indoor Tour in 12 nations.
For more, see here.
James Dasaolu, the 2014 European 100m champion and 9.91 runner, has switched sport to bobsleigh will make his debut for Great Britain this weekend.
Two years ago he made the news after seeking crowdfunding money to pay for Achilles surgery.
December 9, 2020
Big-name athletes like Steve Cram, Daley Thompson, Paula Radcliffe, Mo Farah, Jonathan Edwards and Steve Backley are backing plans to build a new athletics track in Sedgefield in the north-east of England.
The “East Durham Community Athletics Track” would be a new facility for athletes in the area.
The people behind the plans say: “Sedgefield Harriers is part of an extensive network of clubs, running groups and other community groups in South East Durham, yet all are held back by the lack of track and field facilities.
“It is clear that the track will plug a significant gap in County Durham’s sports provision.”
Find out more about the project here.
December 7, 2020
Usain Bolt and Tirunesh Dibaba were named 'the greatest athletes from the last 75 years' recently and the two legendary runners have acknowledged the honour on social media.
Dibaba, the multiple global distance running champion, tweeted that it was "an incredible honor".
This is an incredible honor. Thank you to @AthleticsWeekly and your readers for thinking of me in such high regard and to all who have supported me in my career. https://t.co/1SBXceWXau
— Tirunesh Dibaba (@tirudibaba) December 7, 2020
Bolt, meanwhile, put a montage of 30 covers that he has appeared across all his social networks.
This included Instagram, where he has almost 10 million followers.
As well as going on the cover on many occasions, he first appeared prominently in the magazine in our coverage of the 2002 World Junior Championships in Jamaica, where he won the 200m aged 15.
“Happy 75th Anniversary to @athleticsweekly magazine and thank you for putting me on the cover so many times throughout my career pic.twitter.com/DXLMivCVhG
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) December 3, 2020
The UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships & Cross Challenge Final, which was due to take place on February 20 at Prestwold Hall near Loughborough, has become the latest fixtures casualty of the pandemic and has been cancelled.
Owner of the Prestwold Hall estate, Edward Packe-Drury-Lowe, says on the 2021 Inter-Counties XC: "It is sad to see the event cancelled due to the covid pandemic, but not entirely unexpected. Prestwold Hall will look forward to welcoming back this established event in 2022."
Ian Wilson, past president of Blackheath Harriers and GB cross-country men's team manager from 1989-95, has died aged 76. Wilson was known for being a jovial endurance running enthusiast who was a regular at big cross-country championships and his family say he passed away peacefully.
December 3, 2020
Readers have voted Mondo Duplantis and Sifan Hassan as international athletes of the year in the AW awards.
Further results can be found here.
The honour of being deemed 'The Greatest' went to Usain Bolt and Tirunesh Dibaba.
Read more here.
The sport is mourning the passing of 1960 Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson who has died following a stroke aged 86, writes Jason Henderson.
Alongside his athletics success, the American track and field legend achieved much more during his long and varied life.
As well as triumphing in Rome, he won Olympic silver in Melbourne in 1956 despite struggling with injury. He was flag bearer for the US team at the 1960 Games and later lit the Olympic cauldron at the LA Games in 1984.
Outside sport he was an actor in a number of Hollywood movies and TV programmes, whereas in 1968 he was one of three men to tackle the assassin who shot presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy.
A full obituary can be found here.
Readers have voted Jake Wightman and Jemma Reekie as British athletes of the year in the AW awards.
The junior awards were won by Max Burgin and Amy Hunt.
Further results can be found here.
December 2, 2020
Next year's British Athletics Indoor Championships will be held at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on February 20-21.
The event, which was held in Glasgow in February this year, is currently set to act as a trial for the European Indoor Championships, in Torun, Poland, scheduled for March 5-7 and also the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, from March 19-21.
Under current restrictions, the UK event will be held behind-closed-doors and live streamed online, with more information on the format and shape of the competition to be announced "as soon as practically possible".
Pete Bland, one of the most popular characters in the richly colourful world of fell running, has died aged 79 after falling ill with the coronavirus.
He was mainly known in recent years for running the sports clothing and footwear store in Cumbria – Pete Bland Sports – and he was a regular at local races selling kit from his red van.
But he also organised events himself over the years, such as the Grasmere Sports, Rydal Round and Kentmere Horseshoe. And during his younger days was a fine fell runner himself – winning at the Ambleside Sports in the late 1960s, for example – as part of the Bland dynasty that also produced fell running champions such as Billy and Gavin.
In addition he was a member of the Fell Runners’ Association and a team manager for fell running international squads.
November 27, 2020
The 2021 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, returning for a second year, will feature 11 meetings in 10 countries spanning four continents.
The first meeting in Tokyo on May 9 will serve as an Olympic test event, with the series then moving on to the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava (May 19), Kingston (June 5), Hengelo (June 6), Turku (June 8), Bydgoszcz (June 30), Székesfehérvár (July 6), Chorzów (September 5), Zagreb (September 14), Nairobi (September 18) and Nanjing (date TBC).
"This year has presented tremendously difficult conditions for launching a new one-day series, but the Continental Tour has thrived in its first year, attracting huge support from both athletes and fans, and giving us great confidence that it will go from strength to strength in the coming years," said World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.
"One of our primary goals at World Athletics is to improve the competitive and earning opportunities for elite athletes around the world and the Continental Tour is doing that with the creation of new meetings like the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi. This is also creating new avenues for fans to watch our leading athletes, either in person or via broadcast or livestream, as has been primarily the case this year."
Athletes in England are ready to return to competition and group training next month. With the latest lockdown due to lift on December 2, England Athletics has updated its guidance with road, cross-country, trail and mountain running allowed to resume but with travel restrictions based on the new tiered system created by the Government.
Further information, including links to guidelines for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, can be found here.
November 25, 2020
The 15th edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on February 19 will see reigning champions Kibiwott Kandie and Ababel Yeshaneh defending their titles while world half-marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo and world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei will be among those trying to wrestle their titles off them.
Click here to read more.
November 24, 2020
The 2021 Wanda Diamond League calendar has been published, with the series set to start in Rabat and end in Zurich, while a single one-day meeting is planned for the UK on July 13 in London.
The Meeting International Mohammed VI in Rabat, Morocco, is planned for May 23. The 14-meet series then heads to Doha on May 28 before the first European meeting of the season in Rome on June 4, followed by events in Oslo, Stockholm and Monaco.
London is the final meeting in the series to take place before a month-long pause for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Line-ups could be affected by being so close to the Games as athletes head to holding camps for final preparations, however the athletics programme at the Olympics does not begin until July 30.
The series will resume in Shanghai on August 14 before the new Hayward Field in Eugene hosts its first Diamond League meeting on August 21. The following day will see the first edition of a new Diamond League meeting take place in China, with further details on that yet to be announced.
Meetings in Lausanne, Paris and Brussels follow before the season finale in Zurich from September 8-9.
November 21, 2020
A flat, fast course at Kew Gardens in Richmond, south-west London, is where British Olympic marathon contenders will race for Tokyo team places on March 26.
The races will take place as part of the Richmond Runfest weekend, over a 5.5km loop which does not have any significant elevations and is sheltered from the wind.
In a statement, UKA said: “The venue was selected due to its ability to minimise issues that may arise as a result of the current pandemic. Following lengthy consultations across a host of stakeholders, the need to stage a race that could continue to be deemed viable under the potential of tightening Covid restrictions was a priority.”
Click here to read more.
World record-holders Brigid Kosgei and Ababel Yeshaneh will be among the athletes racing the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on November 29.
Other entries in the women's race include Tsehay Gemechu, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Netsanet Gudeta.
The men's race features Andamlak Belihu, Guye Adola, Abraham Cheroben, Amedework Walelegn and Muktar Edris, who will be making his half-marathon debut.
The elite-only event will see around 60 athletes in action, with the races starting and finishing in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
November 20, 2020
Sprint stars Sanya Richards-Ross and Ato Boldon will host the World Athletics Awards which will be staged as a virtual event on December 5.
November 17, 2020
The European Athletics Team Championships Super League is heading to the Slaski Stadium in the Silesia region (Chorzow) of Poland in 2021.
Competition in all four divisions of the championships will be taking place on June 19-20.
First League action will be held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, while Second League competition will now take place in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, after Valmiera, Latvia, pulled out.
The Third League is due to take place in Nicosia, Cyprus.
November 15, 2020
The English Schools Athletics Association are likely to make a decision in January over the staging of their annual cross-country championships in March. When the event was last held – in March this year at Sefton Park in Liverpool – it was one of the last big meetings to be staged in domestic athletics before coronavirus began to affect the fixtures calendar.
The ESAA say: "At the moment it looks doubtful whether the 2021 XC championships will be possible on 13th March, but we are still planning ahead and we are due to make a final decision in January. If counties cannot hold their own championships at the end of January because of restrictions on the sport, this would be the natural time to make the decision to cancel the championships. The venue is still proposed to be Hop Farm in Kent."
November 13, 2020
The 2017 world 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi has been handed a two-year ban for “whereabouts failures” after the Kenyan missed three anti-doping tests within a 12-month period.
Click here to read more.
Scottish Athletics CEO Mark Munro has been announced as director of development at UK Athletics (UKA).
He will take up his new position as part of the national governing body’s senior leadership team in the new year.
“The UKA role, which will oversee essential areas including coaching, officiating and safeguarding, will also help set the strategic and cultural direction of the organisation aligned to the UK wide strategy developed jointly with the home country athletics federations (HCAFs),” said UKA.
November 12, 2020
Next year's SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in Dublin, Ireland.
Fingal-Dublin had been due to host the 2020 event on December 13 before it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic but will now welcome athletes for the next championships in 2021.
Torino-La Mandria Park in Italy will now host the event in 2022.
Click here to read more.
Two changes have been made to British Athletics’ World Class Programme (WCP) for the year ahead, with all athletes from the 2019-20 lists retained as they target the postponed Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021.
Long jumper Karim Chan and discus thrower Harrison Walsh have been added to receive ‘Podium Potential’ level support on the Paralympic WCP in 2020-21.
But there are no additional places for athletes on the WCP at Olympic level, even for athletes who have had breakthroughs during a condensed coronavirus-affected season.
Click here to read more.
UK Athletics (UKA) has announced the establishment of a new Standards, Ethics and Rules Committee.
“Appointed by UKA, the committee’s role is to advise and recommend to the UKA Board, and the boards of the HCAFs, on a wide range of issues, focused on establishing and promoting clear and consistent standards of behaviour for all participants in athletics in the UK, wherever they are, and at all levels,” said the national governing body.
Click here to read more.
November 11, 2020
The European Indoor Championships are set for Istanbul, Turkey, in 2023.
The action will take place at the Atakoy Athletics Arena, which staged the World Indoor Championships in 2012.
“The facilities in Istanbul are among the best in Europe which will help the athletes to achieve their best performance," said European Athletics interim president Dobromir Karamarinov.
Marathon statistician Roger Gynn died in his sleep on November 8 aged 85 after a long illness.
Gynn was one of the world's foremost statisticians in distance running and especially the marathon. With David Martin he co-authored The Marathon Footrace and The Olympic Marathon and given his expertise he was asked to write The Guinness Book of the Marathon.
Born in Cornwall, he later worked as a policeman in London and died in Derby.
November 10, 2020
Half a century after Rome held the 1974 European Championships, the event will return to the Italian capital in 2024.
Rome beat Katowice-Silesia of Poland in the bid for the event. After Turin held the 1934 European Championships it will be the third time Italy has hosted the event.
Dobromir Karamarinov, European Athletics interim president, said: “Italy has already demonstrated they are capable of staging excellent athletics championships across all age-groups and I am sure that athletes and fans alike will look forward to travelling to Rome in 2024.”
In addition, Istanbul in Turkey will stage the 2023 European Indoor Championships.
November 9, 2020
Beth Potter's move to triathlon is going from strength to strength with victory in the Triathlon World Cup in Valencia.
Using her superb running ability at the end of the race, the 28-year-old beat Swiss former Olympic champion Nicola Spirig by three seconds.
Previously, Potter ran the 10,000m at the Rio Olympics and won the women's race at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in 2017 during a transition to becoming a full-time triathlete.
November 8, 2020
Mo Farah is not the only track and field star set to be part of the new series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Out Of Here!
Hollie Arnold, the Paralympic javelin champion (below), is also one of the contestants in Wales later this month. The 26-year-old, who was born without her right forearm, competes in the F46 category and as well as winning in Rio 2016 she has also won several world titles, including in London 2017.
However the series is in danger of getting off to a false start. It is due to begin on November 15 but one of the contestants, the Strictly Come Dancing dancer AJ Pritchard, is reported to have tested positive for coronavirus.
Some bookies make Farah the favourite, too. "This could be Mo's toughest race yet as he makes his reality TV debut, but the early betting suggests he's already the one to beat," said a spokeswoman from Ladbrokes, who have the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion at 5/1 to triumph.
After almost 30 years at UKA, Cherry Alexander will leave the national governing body as part of a spate of redundancies. One of the most influential people in British and indeed European athletics, she has been UKA's major events director in recent years after holding the role of managing director for the successful London 2017 events.
Last year Alexander was awarded an OBE and became the first-ever female vice president of European Athletics. The news was broken by The Times and the newspaper also reports that David Brown, UKA's head of welfare, will also leave the governing body after having taken early retirement.
November 6, 2020
World half-marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, 2:02:48 marathon man Birhanu Legese and world marathon champion Lelisa Desisa are among the entries for the Valencia Marathon on December 6.
Others in the Spanish event next month include Kinde Atanaw, Leul Gebreselasie, Lawrence Cherono and European record-holder Kaan Kigen Özbilen in the men's race with Ruti Aga, Birhane Dibaba, Degitu Azemiraw, Jordan Hasay and Joyciline Jepkosgei in the women's line-up as 100 athletes from 43 countries try to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
British entries include Derek Hawkins, Scott Overall, Matt Clowes and Peter Le Grice with Callum Hawkins down as one of the pacemakers. Several Irish runners are aiming for Tokyo selection too such as Aoife Cooke and Ann Marie McGlynn.
Click here to read more.
November 4, 2020
Georgia Taylor-Brown, the former English National junior cross-country champion, has been preselected by British Triathlon for the Tokyo Olympics.
Six years ago she won the English National under-20 women’s title by a massive 48 seconds at Wollaton Park and during the same winter placed fourth in the European Cross Country Championships under-20 race despite stopping mid-race to replace a shoe that had come off.
A nightmare period of injuries followed – most notably a stress fracture in her foot that needed surgery – but she eventually put the problems behind her and has made an increasing impact on the world stage in triathlon, culminating in a world title this year in Hamburg.
Taylor-Brown is now aged 26 and based in Leeds. Talent runs in her family, too, as her father Darryl ran 1:47 for 800m.
November 3, 2020
Swedish race walker Anders Hansson died on October 30, aged just 28.
Hansson placed 28th in the 50km race walk at the 2017 World Championships in London and his final race was a win at the Swedish Indoor Championships in February.
November 2, 2020
The AirTel Delhi Half Marathon is set to take place as an elite-only event on November 29, with a virtual mass race held during the race week of November 25-29.
November 1, 2020
Peter Covey reports the passing of Alan Cocking on October 31 at the age of 84. Cocking was a lifelong member of Pudsey and Bramley Harriers (now Pudsey and Bramley AC), having joined as a youth - a friend and running companion of Covey's for 66 years.
"He was a young man of immense talent and he excelled at cross country, once being named the best young cross country runner in the world," says Covey. "Alan's achievements are too numerous to mention but some stand out, including his two English youth cross country wins, his two English junior cross country wins, finishing second to George Knight in the Inter-Counties cross country as a junior and being the first junior to be picked for the English senior team for what was then the world cross country championship.
"Alan not only excelled over the country but on the track he was just a fraction over 4 minutes for the mile which was some achievement over 60 years ago. He once out-sprinted Derek Ibbotson and Henry Rono in a 2-mile race. He went on to represent England on a number of occasions.
"Alan leaves behind wife Gillian and sons David and Jonathan. Farewell my friend the pleasure was all mine."
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