World Athletics president says governing body is monitoring developments at Grand Slam Track as athletes await payment World Athletics president Seb Coe has revealed that the global governing body is closely monitoring the outstanding payments due to athletes from Grand Slam Track. Speaking before the London Diamond League and asked about the project which began this year to much fanfare but has created headlines for the wrong reasons more recently, Coe said: “There is no point in pretending this is a satisfactory situation.” He added: “It’s not good. The one thing that World Athletics has always stood strongly behind is…

Places in next month’s qualifying match were up for grabs as we bring you our latest NAL round-up With the Premiership teams having a day off, it was the pretenders who battled things out in the mini-area leagues to decide who competes in the qualifying match next month. However, if any of the eight who have qualified want to make an impression in the Premiership next summer they will need to up their game. CHAMPIONSHIP EAST, Round 3, Bromley, Kent, July 19 The Norman Park Track was again in service and with heavy rain and thunderstorms from the start of…

Proposals to bring World Championships and World Para Athletics Championships back to Britain are given the green light The UK Government has confirmed its backing for the bid to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships in London. Success would see the global showpiece returning to the Olympic stadium, which was the host venue in 2017. There is also support for the proposals to bring the 2029 World Para Athletics Championships back to British shores in 2029, with a Government statement outlining it is: “Committed to taking the World Paras beyond the capital, with a host city to be confirmed in…

The distance-runner became the first female athlete in history to run a marathon in under two hours and 10 minutes Ruth Chepng’etich, the current women’s world marathon record-holder, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit. The Kenyan, who won last year’s Chicago Marathon in a record-breaking 2:09:56, tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide on March 14. Hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic and used clinically to treat fluid retention and hypertension. It is listed as a prohibited substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code and may be abused to mask the presence in urine for banned drugs. The standard sanction for…

Star-studded line-ups as the Diamond League hits the British capital this weekend A sell-out 60,000 crowd will enjoy almost four hours of world-class athletics on Saturday when the Novuna London Athletics Meet unfolds at the Olympic Stadium. Leading Brits include Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and George Mills in the 1500m, Jemma Reekie, Laura Muir and Georgia Hunter Bell in the 800m, Molly Caudery in the pole vault, Matt Hudson-Smith in the 400m, Zharnel Hughes in the 100m and Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Jazmin Sawyers in the long jump. International stars on show include Femke Bol, Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo, Emmanuel Wanyonyi,…

Police arrest driver of a speeding car which hit the 114-year-old in India Fauja Singh, the British-based Indian runner who rose to fame for his veteran record-breaking marathon achievements, has died in a road accident. He was believed to be 114 years old. Singh, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while crossing a road in his birth village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday (July 14). A man has been arrested in connection with the accident. Singh took up running in 2000 aged 89 shortly after moving…

Olympic 800m champion plans to race at October 10 meeting in New York City After not having raced this summer due to a hamstring injury, Keely Hodgkinson is clearly planning to enjoy a busy late season period. In addition to the World Championships in Tokyo in the second half of September, the Olympic 800m champion has now signed up to compete in the ATHLOS NYC event – a female-only competition which made its debut in 2024. The meeting is on October 10 at the Icahn Stadium in New York. “Athlos NYC represents everything I love about our sport: unity, passion,…

Athletics legend and marketing expert says event “deserves more profile, a big sponsor and big coverage in the media” Alan Pascoe, European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion and one of the most respected voices in the sport, believes it is “tragic” that the English Schools does not have a title sponsor in its centenary year. He does believe, however, that the event still has the potential to attract serious interest from businesses who would be keen to support the most talented athletes in the country. As an athlete Pascoe won multiple medals in the 1960s and 1970s, including Olympic 4x400m…

Sixteen championship records fall at possibly the hottest and highest quality meeting in the event’s 100-year history Much has changed since the first English Schools Championships took place in September 1925. Back then, a wet and windy Crystal Palace saw athletes in the under-14 age group from just 13 counties battling for medals in eight boys events, six girls disciplines and a tug o’ war. Nowadays around 2000 athletes from 46 counties compete in 98 events at the flagship summer track and field event. Cinder tracks and leather shoes have been replaced by synthetic surfaces and super spikes. Global warming…

Olympic 800m champion set her national record of 1:54.61 in the British capital last year Keely Hodgkinson has withdrawn from the London Diamond League and delayed her season opener by a few more weeks to ensure she is fully race-ready. The 23-year-old was meant to start her outdoor season at last month’s Stockholm Diamond League but had to pull out after suffering a minor setback in her recovery from a hamstring injury. The Olympic 800m champion sustained that injury just before her own event, the Keely Klassic, back in February and hasn’t raced since she secured gold at the Games…