Britain’s biggest stars of track and field will receive a huge send-off to the IAAF World Championships at the Müller Anniversary Games on 9 July.

The Müller Anniversary Games will also be the last chance for many of the world’s best athletes to compete ahead of this summer’s global athletics event in London from 4-13 August.

Eleven reigning Olympic champions including Sir Mo Farah, 24 Olympic silver and bronze medallists from Rio, and ten current world champions will take part in this year’s star-studded meet.

Former World and double European indoor 60m champion Richard Kilty, European 100m champion James Dasaolu and fellow sub-10 man Chijindu Ujah, will lead the charge for Britain in the men’s 100m.

While former European 200m champion Adam Gemili, who finished fourth in Rio last year, and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, the only two British men to have run sub-10 for 100m and sub-20 for 200m, will battle it out against a strong 200m field which also includes Britain’s Zharnel Hughes.

European indoor champion Andrew Pozzi has enjoyed a fantastic 2017 so far and will face a world class 110m hurdles field that includes world record holder Aries Merritt and the silver and bronze medallists from the Rio Olympics, Orlando Ortega and Dimitri Bascou.

Andrew Pozzi said: “We’re incredibly lucky. We have a home World Championships first and foremost, but to have the Müller Anniversary Games, it really is the biggest meet on the circuit.

“You look at the start list and every event is always absolutely packed, so it’s really good to have that in the calendar as the last major meet, because it gets everyone focused and ready and almost a taste of the home support before coming back to the World Championships.”

Double European 400m champion Martyn Rooney (Graham Hedman) and 2014 European silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith (Tony Hadley) will also go head-to-head in the men’s 400m.

The four members of the Olympic bronze medal winning 4x100m women’s relay team, Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie), Asha Philip (Steve Fudge), Daryll Neita (Jonas Dodoo) and Desiree Henry (Rana Reider), will line up against each other and the world’s best sprinters in the 100m.

2014 European 400m hurdles champion and Rio Olympic 4x400m relay bronze medallist Eilidh Doyle (Brian Doyle), will face a tough international field in the 400m hurdles, which includes the Rio Olympic silver medallist Sara Slott Petersen

Four British long jumpers, world silver medallist Shara Proctor (Rana Reider), European indoor silver medallist Lorraine Ugen (Shawn Jackson), European silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers (Kelly Sotherton) and 2014 world indoor long jump silver medallist Katarina Johnson-Thompson, will face both the Olympic champion and silver medallist from Rio, Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese.

Shara Proctor said: “I can’t wait for the Müller Anniversary Games. The best athletes in the world always want to compete there, and the stakes are even higher this year because the World Championships is on the same track just a few weeks later.

“The crowd in the London Stadium is always fantastic and I’m sure the send-off for the British athletes will be an amazing spectacle and really loud.”

British Athletics is encouraging fans to turn out in red, white and blue for the Müller Anniversary Games and cheer on the Brits as they prepare for one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

With exactly one month to go to the start of the Summer of World Athletics, official inspiration programme Team Personal Best is in full swing and growing with more than 100 events signed up. Having already held a host of inspiring events, any athletics or running-themed activity can get involved between now and the end of September.

The World Para Athletics Championships (14-23 July) and IAAF World Championships London 2017 (4-13 August) will be the biggest sporting event in the world in 2017. It is the first time ever that both Championships are being held in the same city in the same summer and the inspiration programme and Team Personal Best have been created to inspire anyone and everyone to get involved in grassroots athletics.

Events that have taken place already include disability festivals at the Copper Box at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to taster sessions at clubs around the country. There was even a running takeover from two-time British Olympian Mara Yamauchi as she joined local community groups in East London and shared advice and tips, whilst community fitness group GoodGym have signed up all their sessions to Team Personal Best from now until September.

With summer just around the corner, thoughts are turning to BBQs, the beach, and bikini shopping.

But if you’re like a third of young women who are too self-conscious to go swimming, instead of looking forward to stripping down to a bikini on the beach, you might find yourself missing out through body anxiety.

Swim England recently launched its plan to get the nation swimming:

“Our aim is to encourage everyone to take part in swimming in the way that suits them. Whether that is for fitness, to be the best they can, or as a volunteer teaching people to swim. Together we will reach our goal of a happier, healthier and more successful nation through swimming.”

If you can muster up the confidence to go swimming, it has amazing health and fitness benefits, as Carly Yue, personal trainer at DW Fitness Clubs explains:

‘Swimming is an amazing all round body workout, it has minimal impact on your joints so is a great option for injury rehabilitation.

You can get a workout from simply walking up and down in the pool as the water resistance means you need to put in more effort (and burn more calories) than simply walking on a treadmill.’

Longer working hours and the rise of obesity has been cited as the reason less of us are swimming, but other answers to the survey included poor health and not having enough time with children.

14 athletes have been selected for the inaugural World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland to be held between 3-6 August 2017.

The championship offers an opportunity for developing athletes who are on the pathway towards individual medal success at a future senior world championships or Paralympic Games.

In the wheelchair racing events, under 20 athlete Jack Agnew is one of the key athletes to watch out for. He will compete across a series of T54 events; the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. The Northern Irish athlete has lowered his personal bests in all of these events except the 200m so far in 2017, so he will be one of the in-form athletes competing in the Swiss town.

He is joined by two further wheelchair racers; U20 Craig Boardman and U18 Eden Rainbow-Cooper . The former has been rapidly improving, and enjoyed a successful Swiss series recently. The latter has been studying exams lately, but did achieve victory at the Westminster mile event last month.

British Athletics Parallel Success Event Academy athlete Amar Aichoun and Amy Carr  wrap up the quartet of under 20 age-group athletes representing the British team, competing in the T38 100m & 200m, and T37 100m, 200m & long jump respectively.

Para Athletics Head Coach, Paula Dunn, commented on the team selection:

“The World Para Athletics Junior Championships provides a valuable opportunity for our talented young athletes to gain experience in the major games environment. I have no doubt that the 14 athletes selected will use this championship wisely and hopefully learn plenty from it.

“This is an important part in the development pathway for these athletes as we build towards the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020. For many, this will be their first appearance in a British vest, and it will be crucial as we progress over the next few years.”

Public health experts in Sandwell are urging men to do something about their ‘belly fat’ as part of this week’s national Men’s Health Week.

The campaign is highlighting the dangers of abdominal obesity, better known as ‘belly fat’.

It focuses on encouraging men to be aware of the size of their waist, to help them become fitter and healthier.

Jyoti Atri, Sandwell’s Director of Public Health, said: “We have high levels of obesity amongst our men and this increases their risk of developing disease and early death. Men who have a waist measurement of over 37 inches have increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.”

Sandwell Council Leader Councillor Steve Eling added: “We want to offer support to men to help them reduce their risk of these diseases, by watching their weight, taking more exercise and eating healthily.”

There’s plenty of support on offer. Sandwell’s Weigh2GO self-monitoring programme enables people to weigh themselves at various locations in Sandwell and to track their weight loss on their phone, with additional online support.

There’s also the Man vs Fat football scheme, where men take part in a weekly tournament and get advice about nutrition.

Paul said: “Every time I have come I have lost weight and met some new people as well. There is nothing malicious in the football and everybody gets on. It’s not just about winning on the pitch – you can still win by losing weight.”

Kevin added: “We get to play the game with like-minded people who need to lose a few pounds, and the exercise really helps. It’s a good laugh, it’s not overly-competitive, some players have never played the game before, so come along and enjoy it.”

Also, Weight Watchers is offering 12 weeks of free sessions for Sandwell residents. There are more than 20 sessions in the local area which people can attend.

Joining Weight Watchers also provides you with free access to online support for up to 16 weeks. Weight Watchers sessions are now available for wheelchair users at Portway Lifestyle Centre.

Dacia UK has partnered with Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Northamptonshire (SERV OBN), providing a Duster 4x4 to aid its voluntary emergency riders in transporting blood and blood products to patients in need of urgent medical attention throughout the area. The Duster 4x4 Laureate dCi 110 was chosen by the service for its dependability and four-wheel drive capability and will be supporting the rapid response bikes as the region’s only four wheel vehicle.

The SERV OBN voluntary riders are usually used to riding motorbikes to ensure a quick delivery of medical products, however, the fully-equipped emergency vehicle is aimed at improving the service carried out by 124 volunteers from across the region. The Duster will be used to provide a quicker response to larger load requirements, as before the Duster was available, volunteers would have to use their own cars to transport products when two or more ‘Long Journey Boxes’ were to be transported on one journey. The Duster will also offer immediate access to a vehicle when the bike fleet is grounded during adverse weather conditions or when all bikes on duty are in use and there are further needs for SERV OBN’s services.

Paul Stothard, SERV OBN said: “The Dacia Duster 4x4 will make such a difference to the efforts of SERV OBN transferring potentially life-enhancing products to hospitals throughout the region. As a service, our voluntary riders undertook 1,500 journeys in 2016, however if we’d had the capabilities of a vehicle such as the Duster, that number could have been a lot higher. On some occasions, our riders have needed to use their own cars for journeys when they were unable to use their motorbikes. The Duster will remove the need for that and, given its livery, is much more appropriate for use. The Duster will provide a life-saving service for those in need of it.”

Louise O’Sullivan, Head of Dacia UK said: “The Dacia Duster 4x4 truly is a robust, go-anywhere vehicle, well suited to take on the demanding tasks the SERV OBN volunteers will put it through. Dacia UK is proud to support the humbling work the team do throughout the region and hope the arrival of the Duster contributes to SERV OBN saving many more lives.”

SERV OBN are a volunteer rapid response medical transport service delivering much more than just blood as any other urgently needed medical products are supplied out of hours, 365 days a year – all free of charge to the NHS. SERV OBN receives no government funding and relies on donations from the public and sponsorship to keep the service working. The volunteers receive no payment for their time or costs, saving the NHS thousands of pounds a year and allowing hospitals to divert funds to where they are needed the most. SERV OBN are founder members of the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes.