Ed Warner: Marathon season revives questions about unequal fight against doping Opinion The track season is behind us and athletic thoughts now turn to autumn marathons. Berlin, renowned world record course, this Sunday. London and then Chicago within a fortnight. New York at the start of November. That’s four of the six marathon majors in seven weekends, and doubtless plenty of competition among race organisers to secure [...]
Staging Hockey World Cup at Tottenham Hotspur will ‘sustain the sport for years’ 2026 bid England Hockey is pinning its hopes of hosting the men’s World Cup in 2026 on staging matches in bigger venues than the sport usually visits, such as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The 62,000-capacity ground has been earmarked to host finals weekend if the joint bid from England and Wales is selected in early November. “This [...]
Ed Warner: Does society have a responsibility to retiring athletes? Opinion We may be just days away from seeing the last of Serena Williams in competitive tennis. The US Open, which starts next week, is marked out as the retirement party for the greatest tennis star of the modern era. At 40 years old, she’s late to step away from elite sport and does so with [...]
England’s outgoing Commonwealth chief still sees future for Games August 24, 2022 Team England’s outgoing chief executive insists there is a future for the Commonwealth Games despite debate surrounding where a multi-sport tournament rooted in Britain’s former Empire sits in the 21st century. Paul Blanchard is preparing to leave his position at the head of the team who hosted this year’s competition in Birmingham games after seven [...]
Ed Warner: Value of hosting sport found in hearts and minds as well as spreadsheets August 18, 2022 Just what does constitute a sport? Breaking – otherwise known as breakdancing – will debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics. So how about singing with a dose of choreographed body-poppery? The unlikely combination of Vladimir Putin and Sam Ryder is bringing Eurovision to the United Kingdom in 2023. Seven cities – cut from 20 – are [...]
A green and gold decade: Australia prepares for spell as host of sport’s biggest events August 15, 2022 The sun-kissed nation of Australia is about to embark on a decade-long installation as the centre for world sport. Although it was beaten by Qatar to the rights to stage the men’s football World Cup later this year, the country is set to co-host the women’s equivalent as well as Rugby World Cups, a second [...]
Ed Warner: English cricket has picked the right man to solve its problems – at last August 11, 2022 It’s only taken the best part of 10 months and two attempts, but the England and Wales Cricket Board’s search for a new chair has at last come up with the outcome that the counties identified for it from the off. Richard Thompson, until now chair at Surrey, is clearly the best person for the [...]
European Championships: Six athletes to watch in Munich August 10, 2022 This has already been one of the most congested track and field seasons in recent history – and now it’s about to get even busier. On the back of an impressive World Championships and a superbly attended Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the athletics circus is rolling into Munich for the European Championships, which officially start [...]
Toni Minichiello: Jess Ennis-Hill’s coach banned for sexually inappropriate behaviour August 9, 2022 The British athletics coach credited with guiding Jessica Ennis-Hill to the top of the sport, Toni Minichiello, has been banned for life after being found guilty of sexually inappropriate behaviour. Minichiello “dry humped” athletes, touched and made comments about their breasts and told one female athlete she could “suck my ****”, a UK Athletics investigation [...]
Track and Field at Commonwealths shows British Athletics there’s no more excuses August 8, 2022 At the weekend 30,000 fans crammed into Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium for a Saturday evening session of athletics. On show were British superstars Keely Hodgkinson, Laura Muir and Zharnel Hughes. But the loudest cheer of the night was for Rosefelo Siosi from the Solomon Islands. The 25-year-old long-distance runner came last in the 5,000m – by [...]