‘Absolutely embarrassing’: Victoria blasted for Commonwealth Games hosting U-turn July 18, 2023 A bitter war of words has broken out over the 2026 Commonwealth Games after the Australian state of Victoria abruptly pulled out of hosting the event. Victoria was named host for the multi-sport championships last year but reneged on that commitment on Tuesday, citing spiralling costs – plunging the Games into doubt. Commonwealth Games Australia [...]
World Athletics stands firm on DSD rules despite Caster Semenya legal victory July 11, 2023 World Athletics insists it has no plans to change its rules despite double Olympic champion Caster Semenya winning a landmark legal case at the European Court of Human Rights. Semenya, 32, won a challenge relating to rules introduced by World Athletics in 2018 that force athletes like her with differences of sexual development to take [...]
Padam: How Hughes has injected life into British track and field July 5, 2023 Until very recently you had to go back to the year of the European single market’s founding and just prior to Kylie Minogue’s fifth studio album to find a British man setting a national track and field record in the 100m. Now, in the year of Barbie the Movie, an attempted Russian coup and the [...]
Enhanced Games president likens doping to ‘being gay 50 years ago’ July 3, 2023 Ever thought about watching a 100m race where you knew everyone was using substances to artificially enhance themselves, rather than finding out a couple of years later when a ban is issued? Well the Enhanced Games may be for you. The idea pits competitive sport alongside the world of performance enhancing drugs in an Olympics-style [...]
Ed Warner: When risk in sport is a smart choice June 29, 2023 This week columnist Ed Warner looks at risk in sport and how sometimes, such as in Bazball in cricket, it can be the smartest choice. A team of sub-10 second sprinters can be beaten to 4x100m relay gold by a quartet who have never broken that magic barrier. The trick is risk management in the [...]
Ed Warner: Football should offer players amnesty in wake of Ivan Toney betting ban May 25, 2023 This week Ed Warner examines what Ivan Toney’s betting ban means for football, the eye-watering cost of tickets for the Paris 2024 Olympics, and a nuanced take on the trans debate in sport. If you stick a betting company logo on a young man’s shirt, beam his image around the world for 90 minutes every [...]
Michael Johnson: Track and field needs more best versus best to attract fans May 16, 2023 Four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson says track and field’s lack of “best versus the best” battles on the calendar has contributed to declining interest in athletics. The sport has been at a crossroads for a number of years. While it can claim the fastest man and woman in the world and remains the epicentre [...]
Track and field must shine in 2023 or risk a painful death May 2, 2023 So a new track and field season is upon us, with the Diamond League set to begin on Friday in Doha. And while those in Qatar may have their eyes fixed on Manchester United at the moment, the athletics circus is returning to their back yard in a year in which the sport is looking [...]
Keely Hodgkinson to make London Stadium track and field debut April 27, 2023 British superstar Keely Hodgkinson will make her debut at the London Stadium this year in track and field’s Diamond League leg in the capital in July. Hodgkinson has never competed in the stadium that was built for the London 2012 Olympics and will be looking to build on her recent indoor and outdoor medals. Hodgkinson [...]
Ed Warner: Sport England data shows activity is falling. We need to make it easier April 27, 2023 As Sport England’s latest Active Lives survey shows that we are exercising less, Ed Warner argues that we need to make participation easier. An elite athlete cadges a lift to skip a couple of kilometres of an ultra race. Tough Mudder turns Finsbury Park into a swamp and is barred from using the venue next [...]