‘I’m left wondering what price The Hundred franchises could one day fetch’ June 30, 2022 “What does Ed Warner know about tennis?” What indeed? My critique last week of the Lawn Tennis Association’s performance drew this feisty query in the Sport inc. comment section from Tom (no surname provided). It also garnered a response column in City A.M. from the LTA’s CEO, Scott Lloyd. Both Tom (no surname provided) and [...]
World track and field in need of resurrection ahead of major championships June 27, 2022 The tectonic plates of British athletics shifted at the weekend as favourites fell to underdogs and new records were broken. As Jeremiah Azu and Daryll Neita won 100m British titles, toppled favourites and looked to book spots at this year’s World Championships in Eugene, US, you’d be forgiven for not knowing it was even going [...]
Ed Warner: Wimbledon shows that the Lawn Tennis Association gets too much money June 23, 2022 If you want to know what’s wrong with tennis in Britain, look no further than Wimbledon. Blame the Championships for being such a phenomenal success that they bequeath the Lawn Tennis Association more money each year than it appears to be able to handle effectively, while simultaneously raising the public’s hunger for the LTA to [...]
BBC wins the race for London Marathon broadcast rights for another five years June 20, 2022 The BBC will broadcast the London Marathon for a further five years after extending its long-standing rights agreement with the race’s organisers. The new deal begins with this year’s edition of the 26-mile race, which is due to take place on 2 October, and runs until 2026, marking 45 years of live coverage on the [...]
The race to Eugene is on and men’s sprinting is hotly contested May 10, 2022 The long-standing successes of US collegiate sports are well known. The countless NFL players, the basketball stars and, of course, the seemingly endless prominence in the world of track athletics. This year is no different, and while all of the athletes may not be American in nationality, it’s in the United States where the majority [...]
Ed Warner: Docuseries triumph may drive wedge between media and sport April 14, 2022 “Please please please please just go away!” The letter writer signed off with his PS in green ink, only months into my stint as chair of UK Athletics in the days before tweets were a thing. I wish I’d kept it, the only time I’ve seen green ink scrawled in cliched anger. Sports leaders are [...]
Victoria to become first regional host of the Commonwealth Games in 2026 April 12, 2022 The Australian state of Victoria has been selected to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The Games, to be staged in Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland, will be the first to take place predominantly in a region rather than a single city. The last edition took place in Australia four years ago and organisers have [...]
Ed Warner: Trans debate has echoes of Semenya legal row but ‘meaningfulness’ may be buzzword April 7, 2022 It’s a pity Emily Bridges was blocked from competing in the National Omnium Championships in Derby last weekend. Yes, the cyclist would have been at the centre of an unsavoury media scrum, but we would have gathered one more valuable data point with which to try and balance the febrile debate about transgender women in [...]
Records could tumble as indoor athletics returns to Birmingham February 18, 2022 British athletics will aim to kick their summer Olympic hangover when the UK’s showpiece indoor event takes place on Saturday in Birmingham. The Indoor Grand Prix will see stars of Britain’s track and field team take on the world in the curtain-raiser for what is a huge year for the sport. This outdoor season will [...]
Best of 2021: Triathlete Alistair Brownlee on his unique goal for 2022 January 1, 2022 In this interview from February 2021, Alistair Brownlee discusses his plan to attempt a sub-seven hour Iron distance triathlon in 2022, training with brother Jonny during lockdown and his hopes of more Olympic success at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games. Alistair Brownlee did his first triathlon aged eight and trains three times a day, almost [...]