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 [...]
Best of 2021: Sprinter Darren Campbell’s brush with death December 24, 2021 In this interview from January 2021, former Olympic champion sprinter Darren Campbell recounts fearing for his life after a sudden and serious illness, his rise from poverty to athletics stardom and why he decided it was time to write a book. Darren Campbell was in no hurry to write a book until May 2018. A [...]
Ed Warner: Soft power and sport – why do they do that? December 9, 2021 To the Guildhall for the launch of EY’s study of soft power and major sporting events, commissioned by the City of London and UK Sport. The publication was timely, coinciding with the findings of the inquiry into the chaos at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley which tarnished Britain’s hosting credentials, as well as the [...]
Why athletics needs a silver bullet in the form of private investment September 30, 2021 The results are just in, and they don’t make for easy reading. World Athletics posted a small financial surplus in 2020, but only because Russia coughed up a fine for its doping misdemeanours. W hat’s worrying is the long steady decline in the reserves of track and field’s governing body. For the sake of the [...]
Lend your support to City A.M.’s London Marathon runner and help charity Give Them A Sporting Chance September 22, 2021 City A.M. hit the streets again this week and thousands of runners are preparing to do the same at the London Marathon next month. Among them will be City A.M.’s own representative George Reed, who is raising money for Give Them A Sporting Chance, a charity that helps carers and those with disabilities of all [...]
Usain Bolt: I considered athletics comeback for Tokyo 2020 Olympics but my coach talked me out of it September 9, 2021 World’s fastest man Usain Bolt has revealed that he was talked out of making a comeback at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Bolt, who won the men’s 100m and 200m titles three Games in a row, bowed out from athletics after the 2017 World Championships in London. But the Jamaican says he had second thoughts in [...]