Sports News

Start lists are live for the first Wanda Diamond League event of 2021 – the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead – with eight reigning world champions and two current Olympic gold medallists set to compete this Sunday, May 23, in the North East of England.

Athletes in the line-ups have a combined number of 112 global outdoor world and Olympic medals between them. In addition, they own a whopping 156 European, Commonwealth, world indoor and European indoor medals. The women’s 100 metres is a preview to the Olympic final we will see later this summer in Tokyo as Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica faces reigning and four-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, world 200m gold medallist Dina Asher-Smith and current world leader Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States.

Thompson-Herah is also the reigning Olympic 200m champion, while Fraser-Pryce won the Olympic 100m title in 2008 and 2012. In total, the sprinters in this event alone in Gateshead have earned a staggering 41 global championship medals during their careers. The pole vault sees the 1-2-3 from the last World Championships in Doha enjoying a rematch. Sam Kendricks of the United States won gold on that occasion – and also took the world title in London 2017 – ahead of Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Piotr Lisek of Poland, although Duplantis has since captured the world record.

Other global gold medallists in action at Gateshead include high jumper Mariya Lasitskene, triple jumper Caterine Ibargüen and javelin thrower Anderson Peters. Russia’s Lasitskene, who is competing on the circuit as an Authorised Neutral Athlete, is the reigning and three-time world champion.

In Gateshead she will take on, among others, the silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships, Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine. Colombian Ibargüen is reigning Olympic champion in her event and two-time world gold medallist as she uses the Gateshead meeting as a stepping stone toward her title defence in Tokyo.

World champion Peters of Grenada takes on, among others, Keshorn Walcott, the 2012 Olympic champion from Trinidad & Tobago. Tajay Gayle of Jamaica, meanwhile, the reigning world gold medallist in the men’s long jump, leads the entries in his event.

Andre de Grasse of Canada won three Olympic medals at the Rio Games and he takes on Britain’s Adam Gemili and in-form American Kenny Bednarek at 200m in Gateshead. De Grasse won 200m silver in Brazil behind Usain Bolt plus bronze in the 100m and 4x100m. Nine gold medallists from the recent European Indoor Championships in Toruń are in the line-ups too; include Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, who won the 1500m and 3000m titles in style in the Polish city in March.

Laura Muir, a multiple European champion indoors and out in recent years, is part of a 1500m field that includes former world champion Jenny Simpson of the United States and recent European indoor champion Elise Vanderelst of Belgium. A series of para-athletics sprints races to open the programme will feature four reigning Paralympic champions – Sophie Hahn, Libby Clegg, Kadeena Cox and Richard Whitehead. Leading the way, Hahn has a grand slam of major titles under her belt – Paralympic, world, European and Commonwealth – despite still only being 24-years-old.

Former QPR youth player Kiyan Prince has been added to Fifa 21 to mark the 15th anniversary of his death.

The promising star was stabbed to death at 15 while trying to break up a fight at school. He will also be listed as a QPR squad member during the 2021-22 season and his likeness will feature on a special edition trading card.

On seeing his son as a 30-year-old, Dr Mark Prince OBE said: "It was very emotional. I could see Kiyan in there. I'm really proud." Special effects studio Framestore virtually recreated him (Kiyan) and the imagery will also feature on billboards as part of an advertising campaign.

The west London tweeted: "Kiyan Prince returns to life as the professional footballer he should have been."  Dr Prince set up the Kiyan Prince Foundation to educate young people about the consequences of knife crime, and in 2019, QPR renamed their Loftus Road ground after the charity.

He said: "I want my son to be remembered not for the tragedy of his death but for the triumph of his achievements.

"Through this campaign my hope is that the world finally gets to glimpse Kiyan's incredible potential fulfilled, we get to honour his talent and, hopefully, we can inspire other kids to honour their own talent too - whatever their own strengths might be."

QPR's director of football Les Ferdinand said: "If one person who plays Fifa can look at this and put his knife down, that's the important legacy we want." He explained that when the club renamed their stadium, they invited Kiyan's father to speak with their players.

"The squad were truly humbled by Mark's bravery and his dedication to use his pain to prevent others from having to walk the same path he has had to walk," added the former QPR and England striker. "As a club, we have worked closely with the Kiyan Prince Foundation and it has been an honour to get to know Mark on a personal level during that time. What he has been through is every parent's worst nightmare and his response to such a tragedy has been truly inspiring."

So, after being delayed by Covid for over a year, Africa's new basketball league finally tipped-off with the continent’s top sides faced-off in the newly-formed professional competition.

Designed to promote the sport, drive economic growth and unearth rising talent, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) - backed by the NBA, who is helping to organise a league outside of the United States for the first time - sees 12 featured teams, from 12 countries, in a competition which replaces the old Africa Basketball League, another pan-African club tournament, which had been running since 1971.

The 12 teams involved are the national champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia – who were all guaranteed a spot, with representatives from Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda, with the other six teams having to go through qualifying rounds.

President of newly-formed BAL side Patriots, Brian Kirungi, said: "Now they can touch and feel basketball in their own arena. I see a huge potential - attract more investment, more partners, the corporate world in Africa to say: 'look, we are taking ourselves from an amateur to a professional stage'."

Adam Silver, the Commissioner for the NBA, said: "We think that we can have the biggest impact in Africa and we see a great opportunity there with well over a billion people who have an amazing affinity for basketball."

Basketball's world governing body Fiba is also involved in the hunt for the next big African superstar to follow the likes of Congolese-American former professional Dikembe Mutombo, who said: "Africa is a continent full of secrets and treasure and I think all this treasure is going to be found.

"As this game is about to start, there will be more players coming out from the continent that we haven't seen before."

The BAL was set to start in March last year, with matches originally set to be played in Kigali in Rwanda, Dakar in Senegal, Cairo in Egypt, Lagos in Nigeria, Luanda in Angola, Tunis or Monastir in Tunisia and Rabat in Morocco, but because of Covid pandemic, it finally arrived - 14 months late.

Newcastle Eagles have won the BBL Play-off Final for the seventh time in their history, leading all teams in that regard, after overcoming London Lions 68-66 in one of the tensest finals in memory at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

Having finished fourth in the BBL Championship, the Eagles showed great resilience to come through tough post-season ties against B. Braun Sheffield Sharks and Leicester Riders, and needed every ounce of that in the showpiece game.

Newcastle trailed by double-figures on four separate occasions, finding themselves in such a hole after just three minutes, and despite a couple of comebacks they were still in that situation when the deficit peaked at 54-42 inside the final three minutes of the third quarter.

From there Cortez Edwards took over, as he scored six straight points in an 8-0 burst towards the end of the third, before he opened the fourth with the first five points and then lobbed up an 'alley-oop' pass for Evan Maxwell to give Eagles a 57-55 lead, their first since the opening possessions.

In total, it was a 15-1 surge in five and a half minutes over the third quarter break in which Edwards had scored 11, half of his points as he went on to be awarded MVP with a double-double of 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Lions weren't done, as they came back to tie the game three times and the teams were knotted at 66 heading into the final minute. Edwards drove hard and drew a foul, icing both free-throws, and they proved decisive as a series of strong defensive stands saw Eagles through, before Rahmon Fletcher intentionally missed a final free-throw so London couldn't call timeout and were forced to throw up a desperate heave.

Head Coach Ian Macleod spoke to Sky Sports immediately after the game, commenting: "I'm very happy. If you'd have said it was going to be 68-66 I'd have probably said, 'OK, what's going to happen in the fourth quarter?' I thought our defence was incredible, and it feels like we did a great job defending the three-point line.

"We're three of three in finals in the most difficult year that most of us will ever remember. That's success. What else is success to us? Themba Yabantu playing 27 minutes in the game at Bristol and not looking out of place, when he came to us at 10-years-old. There's lots of different measurements of success. Externally it looks like trophies, and we have two of those this season."

Italian racing team Iron Lynx will propel a young racer on her first step towards single-seater glory this weekend, as she competes in her first ever car race.

Dutch-Spanish driver Maya Weug is 16 years old and having triumphed in last year’s “FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars” programme, has become the first girl to join the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy.

Having previously raced in karts, Maya joins the Iron Lynx squad in Italian Formula 4 with teammates Leonardo Fornaroli, who has been setting fastest times in pre-season testing, and Pietro Armanni, another promising Iron Lynx debutant. The opening three races take place at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France across Saturday and Sunday.

Maya also joins the Iron Dames, an initiative led by Deborah Mayer, which supports women in motorsport, and is the perfect environment to nurture new talents. As well as Formula 4, the Iron Dames race Ferrari GT cars in the World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC), European Le Mans Series (ELMS), 24 Hours of Le Mans, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ferrari Challenge Europe.

Also this weekend, Iron Dames Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Manuela Gostner are competing a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the four-hour second round of the ELMS at Red Bull Ring in Austria, where team-mates Claudio Schiavoni, Giorgio Sernagiotto, Paolo Ruberti, Miguel Molina, Matteo Cressoni and Rino Mastronardi will also be hoping to build on Iron Lynx’s impressive showing last time out in Barcelona, where the #80 car took the LMGTE class win.

Speaking about the weekend ahead, Iron Dames founder and accomplished racer Deborah Mayer said, “Maya’s first race this weekend is a very significant step for the Iron Dames, for the Ferrari Driver Academy and for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. We welcome her to the team and wish her every success, meanwhile we thank all our followers for their support as we take six Iron Lynx racing cars into the weekend”.

Both racing series offer viewers the opportunity to watch live online, while both Iron Lynx and Iron Dames can be followed on Facebook and Instagram. Racing with Ferrari at iconic circuits all around Europe, Iron Lynx’s season continues to inspire and engage as the team looks ahead to further success in the weeks and months ahead.

Rob Paternostro of the BBL Championship-winning Leicester Riders has won the 2020-21 Ed Percival Molten BBL Coach of the Year award, voted by his peers, after leading his team to a 24-6 BBL Championship record in one of the most competitive seasons in BBL history.

This is the sixth time that he has won the award - and fourth in the last five years - which itself leads to another remarkable accolade as he moves clear of Kevin Cadle and Fabulous Flournoy, who have five each, as the coach with the most annual awards in BBL history. Paternostro received seven votes from fellow BBL Head Coaches, quite some way clear of Paul James of Plymouth Raiders in second place.

This was a fifth BBL Championship title in Leicester's history, all of which have come under his stewardship having taken over the role in 2008 before the first league title came in 2012-13. He won his first Coach of the Year award after transforming Riders in that initial 2008-09 season, immediately taking them from tenth to third, and they have only finished below that on three occasions in more than a decade since. Overall, it's a fourteenth piece of silverware in his reign.

The 48-year-old native of Connecticut - who enjoyed a good playing career in the BBL as a charismatic point guard from 2000 to 2008 - has built his success on a defensive philosophy, and will have been pleased to see his team once more end the season as the BBL's meanest defence, for the fifth completed season in a row, conceding just 76.8 points per game. They held opponents to only 42% shooting from the field, led the league in defensive rebounds and blocked shots, allowed the fewest fast break points, and third fewest points in the paint; and they achieved all of that playing smart defence, giving up the third fewest fouls in the league.

At the other end of the floor, the efficiency of his offence was demonstrated by Leicester leading the BBL in field goal percentage (48.2%) as they finished second in points scored per game (87), and they got motoring in the second half of the season, scoring in excess of 90 points on 12 occasions from the end of January onwards.

Riders demonstrated great consistency throughout the campaign, much of which was built on the returns of key players to the roster he assembled, with the likes of Jamell Anderson, Corey Johnson, Darien Nelson-Henry, Mo Walker and Conner Washington all back, alongside whom he added exciting talent such as Geno Crandall and William Lee. All but Johnson and Walker - who missed much of the season through injury - made either the Molten Team of the Year, All-British Team, or Defensive Team.

In a key stretch of games, Riders bounced back from defeat to title rivals London Lions by putting on consecutive road wins at third-placed Plymouth Raiders in early January, which sparked a run of eleven straight wins and established Riders at the top of the table. After a pair of defeats, they bounced back emphatically once more with two wins in the space of three days over fellow top four rivals Newcastle Eagles and, crucially, London Lions in mid-March.

Despite that, the title race would go right down to Leicester's final game, and reverting to type they held both of their last two opponents to score totals in the sixties to lift the title on the road at Cheshire Phoenix. Those two defensive stands saw them overtake Plymouth Raiders as the league's leading defence, at a decimal point, to maintain their good run in that regard.

Middle-distance talent Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the latest big-name athlete to sign up to compete at the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead.

The event at Gateshead International Stadium in just over a week’s time is the first meeting in the 2021 Wanda Diamond League series and the 20-year-old from Norway is racing over 1500 metres. One of the most exciting runners in the world, Ingebrigtsen is the European record-holder for the distance with 3:28.68 set in Monaco last year and he is the reigning European champion at 1500m and 5000m.

Ingebrigtsen said: “I had a great time racing in Glasgow at the European Indoor Championships a couple of years ago and I’ve also run a few times at the Olympic Stadium in London. So, I’m hoping for another good experience in Britain at the Diamond League in Gateshead next week.

“I’ve been training hard lately but I enjoy testing myself in competition and this meeting will be a good race to see where I am in the run-up to the Olympics.” Indeed, on one of recent visits to the UK he won 3000m gold and 1500m silver at those European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow before capturing gold at both distances at the same championships in Poland in March this year.

At Gateshead he will face, among others, British middle-distance runners Elliot Giles, George Mills, Piers Copeland and Archie Davis. Giles impressed during the recent indoor season when he clocked a sizzling 1:43.63 for 800m to smash the long-time British record held by Sebastian Coe, whereas Mills is the reigning British 1500m champion and the son of former England footballer Danny Mills.

With the meeting moving from Rabat in Morocco to Gateshead in England, it means British Athletics is able to offer more valuable competition opportunities to domestic athletes in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Mills and Copeland are also part of the Futures Academy Programme which is supported by Nike.

Australia will also have a strong presence in this race with Stewart McSweyn leading the charge. Last year McSweyn ran an Australian 1500m record of 3:30.51 and in Gateshead he is joined by talented fellow countrymen Ollie Hoare, Matthew Ramsden and Ryan Gregson.

Added to this, the meeting is set to feature a women’s 100m with Dina Asher-Smith, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sha’Carri Richardson, while the men’s pole vault sees a clash between Mondo Duplantis, Sam Kendricks and Piotr Lisek. In addition, Laura Muir, will race in the UK for the first time in over a year when she tackles the 1500m.

The Müller Grand Prix Gateshead will be broadcast live internationally from 7pm-9pm and for the domestic audience on BBC2 from 7pm. However, the meeting will start at 6pm with a series of para athletics events, as well as some of the Wanda Diamond League field competitions.

Following the recent announcement from the UK Government regarding Step 3 of the roadmap, we are delighted to announce that we will welcome up to 2,000 spectators for the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead on Sunday May 23. We are working closely with stakeholders, including Gateshead Council, the Director of Public Health and the Gateshead Safety Advisory Group to ensure spectators can return to the stadium with safety and social distancing as our priority.

Twelve athletes will represent the British team at the European 10,000m Cup which will take place at the 2021 Müller British Athletics 10,000m Championships at the University of Birmingham on Saturday 5 June 2021.

Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah is selected as he looks to secure his place on the British team for the Tokyo Olympic Games. The Newham and Essex Beagles athlete is a two-time Olympic champion in the 10,000m and will be seeking a berth at his fourth Games. His last 10,000m race on the track was at the World Athletics Championships London 2017 where he secured his sixth world title.

Sam Atkin and Marc Scott, who are currently the only two British male athletes that hold the Olympic Games qualifying standard (27:28.00), are also selected. Atkin ran a time of 27:26.58 in California last December, while Scott attained the standard with 27:10.41 back in February which moved him to second on the UK all-time list. 

The men’s team also includes Jake Smith who in April posted a unique pair of PBs within five days of each other; 3:50.89 in the 1500m and 2:11.00 in the marathon. Emile Cairess (Alan Storey, Leeds City) and Kristian Jones are also added to the squad.

The first two athletes at the Trial event who hold an Olympic qualifying standard will automatically qualify for Tokyo 2020.

In the women’s race, the British line-up includes Eilish McColgan who achieved the Tokyo qualifying standard [31:25.00] back in February when she recorded a time of 30:58.94. The time moved her to fifth on the UK all-time list. She also currently holds Olympic standards over the 1500m and 5000m.

Lily Partridge and Jenny Nesbitt are second and third on the 2021 UK rankings in the 10,000m following their performances in Newport earlier this year; their times 32:33.16 and 32:44.26 respectively.

Jess Judd earns a call-up following an impressive PB of 15:06.02 over 5000m last weekend. Meanwhile, European Indoor Championships 3000m medallists, Amy-Eloise Markovc and Verity Ockenden, have also been called-up to the women’s team. The gold and bronze medallists from Torun will step up in distance as they both chase the standard for the Games.

With six women and six men selected, Great Britain and Northern Ireland will contest for team medals in both events at the European 10,000m Cup, which will be integrated into the A races on the day which will incorporate the Müller British Athletics 10,000m Championships and Trial.

Team Leader, Rob Denmark, said: “We are pleased that we have been able to select a strong line-up for the European 10,000m Cup. We will be looking to achieve the highest possible placing in both the men’s and women’s team standings and we are confident that the athletes selected can deliver successful results on home soil.

“Significantly though, with places up for grabs for the Olympic Games as part of the Müller British Athletics 10,000m Championships, every athlete will be looking to deliver their best on the day, so I look forward to seeing how the athletes perform.”

The British team for the European Athletics 10,000m Cup on Saturday June 5:

Women

Jessica Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn)

Amy-Eloise Markovc (Chris Fox, Wakefield)

Eilish McColgan (Liz Nuttall, Dundee Hawkhill)

Jenny Nesbitt (Chris Jones, Cardiff)

Verity Ockenden (Tony Houchin, Swansea)

Lily Partridge (Alan Storey, Birchfield)

Men

Sam Atkin (Mike Collins, Lincoln Wellington)

Emile Cairess (Alan Storey, Leeds City)

Mo Farah (Gary Lough, Newham & Essex Beagles)

Kristian Jones (Chris Jones, Swansea)

Marc Scott (Jerry Schumacher, Richmond and Zetland)

Jake Smith (James Thie, Cardiff)

Global football networking platform Soccerex has chosen national blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia as its Official Charity Partner for the upcoming Soccerex Connected 100 event this summer. The virtual event, which takes place from 24^th May to 31^st August 2021, will involve delegates from over 150 countries, feature over 150 expert speakers and provide more than 2400 hours of networking opportunities to connect businesses with football’s key stakeholders.

Cure Leukaemia will have the opportunity to communicate the charity’s message with a global audience through Soccerex’s online platform over 3 months to highlight how football, which has seen many examples of people within the game touched by blood cancer in recent years, has the power to affect real change in the treatment of blood cancer worldwide. It will also give Cure Leukaemia the chance to drive fundraising opportunities this summer after the COVID-19 pandemic left the charity with a £1,700,000 fundraising shortfall.

Cure Leukaemia’s key fundraising event in 2021, The Tour 21 which will see 25 amateur cyclists led by former England footballer and blood cancer survivor Geoff Thomas ride the full Tour de France route one week ahead of the professionals during Soccerex Connected 100, will be highlighted throughout the event with video footage and updates regularly shared with delegates.

The Tour 21 team aim to raise in excess of £1,000,000 for Cure Leukaemia this summer with the charity also now recognized as the official Charity Partner of the Tour de France in the UK and the team has recently surpassed £600,000 raised with less than 50 days until the event. All funds raised by the Tour 21 team and through Soccerex’s global amplification will be invested in the national Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) a network of specialist research nurses in 12 of the UK’s biggest cities and a facilitatory hub in Birmingham. TAP enables blood cancer clinical trials to be setup and run through the network at an accelerated rate, not only directly benefitting patients from a UK catchment area of over 20 million people, but also informing the global treatment of the disease for future patients.

Geoff Thomas was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in 2003 and given just 3 months to live. Thanks to treatment from Cure Leukaemia co-founder Professor Charlie Craddock CBE and a transplant from his sister, Geoff went into remission in 2005 and took on his first Tour de France challenge a few months later. Since then, Geoff has dedicated his life to helping blood cancer patients worldwide by raising funds for Cure Leukaemia.

Speaking about the partnership Geoff said: “It is a fitting date to announce this fantastic partnership with Soccerex. May 12^th marks 31 years since I led Crystal Palace out in the FA Cup Final at Wembley and it is also International Nurses Day, so it is the perfect time to highlight football’s connection with blood cancer and also how Cure Leukaemia’s work is making an impact on the treatment of blood cancer worldwide.

“We are very grateful to Soccerex for giving us the opportunity to drive awareness and fundraising for The Tour 21 this summer but also to highlight how football has the power to drive real, global change in the treatment of blood cancer. Alongside myself there is an ever-growing list of footballers touched by this disease including Sol Bamba, Carl Ikeme, Stiliyan Petrov, Joe Thompson, Gary Lineker’s son George and Bologna manager Siniša Mihajlović amongst others. Sadly, this list seems to grow every year and we hope the football community can help us make real strides in finding effective treatments for all forms of blood cancer in the near future.”

Managing Director of Soccerex, Philip Gegan said: “Being able to be help with the great work that Cure Leukaemia is doing is a real privilege for us at Soccerex. Football still has a unique ability to reach out to all the sections of society, driving attention and resources to the key challenges we face medically and civically. A number of members of the Soccerex Family have been affected by blood cancer and we hope that this partnership can assist in raising awareness and funds that aid Cure Leukaemia’s vital work.”

Cure Leukaemia CEO James McLaughlin said: “COVID-19 left us with a £1,700,000 shortfall in 2020 and yet on World Cancer Day we announced that TAP will be running 5 new clinical trials in 2021 despite these challenges. Blood cancer is a global illness and our partnership with Soccerex gives Cure Leukaemia an opportunity to highlight to the football world the international significance of the TAP network.”

A proposal to help cement Birmingham’s reputation as a host of major international sporting events is set to be considered by the city council’s Cabinet on May 18. Cabinet Members will be asked to approve the submission of a city bid for the right to stage the World Athletics Road Running Championships in 2023 or 2024.

The event is scheduled in a format that would deliver a festival of running for the city. The programme would include the Men’s Half Marathon, Women’s Half Marathon, Men’s 5km and Women’s 5km races. There is also the expectation for any bid to incorporate a wider series of activities and events, including mass participation events for the public such as a half-marathon (incorporating a corporate business challenge to raise charity funds) and a mini race for children as well as a running expo open to the public and conference relevant to the running industry.

As well as reconfirming Birmingham’s status amongst the elite locations for major events, it is envisaged the championships would boost the local economy and celebrate local culture. The Cabinet report asks for £1.5million to be earmarked for the staging of the event if the bid succeeds.

The direct economic impact will be calculated as part of the full submission but will exceed the £4.2million generated by the Birmingham Great Run, including spend in the areas of accommodation, retail and hospitality - industries significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (hospitality and retail). If Birmingham secures the event there is also an estimated indirect economic impact (long-term tourism) of £5.46million

Councillor Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “We know one of our city’s strengths is its ability to stage major international sporting events – with the upcoming Commonwealth Games showcasing this on a global stage.

But we don’t want our ambitions or aspirations in this sector to end in August 2022. We know other Commonwealth hosts have gone on to stage many more big events and we want to emulate this.

“Our rich and proud history with athletics means staging the World Athletics Road Running Championships is a natural next step, helping cement part of our legacy from being the Proud Host City of Birmingham 2022. The bid we want to submit for Road Running will offer something for people of all abilities from those who have never run a race before right through to seasoned amateurs to the world elite.”

Birmingham City Council has already submitted an expression of interest to host the World Athletics Road Running Championships alongside eleven other international cities.

A formal bid is required to be submitted by 1 June 2021. A month later, the World Athletics Council are expected to announce their selection of host.

World champion Dina Asher-Smith will start her competitive countdown to this summer’s Olympic Games by taking on a world-class field in the 100 metres on home soil at the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead on Sunday May 23.

The event is the first meeting in the 2021 Wanda Diamond League series and Asher-Smith could hardly have picked a tougher race to begin her season as she faces Jamaican duo Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah, plus in-form American Sha’Carri Richardson.

Fraser-Pryce won Olympic 100m gold in 2008 and 2012, whereas in 2019 she beat Asher-Smith in Doha to claim her fourth world 100m title. Thompson-Herah is the reigning Olympic 100m and 200m champion. Richardson, meanwhile, clocked a sizzling 10.72 earlier this month to go sixth on the world all-time rankings.

Asher-Smith won the world 200m title in Doha two years ago and her only competitions so far in 2021 have been two indoor 60m races in Germany. The British record-holder said: “I’m so excited to be running at the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead. It’s going to be my first Diamond League of 2021 and my first Diamond League since 2019 and I can’t wait. It’s been a long time coming!

“I’m so excited to get back out there, running the 100m. It’s going to be so much fun. So 23^rd of May, here we come!”

The first Wanda Diamond League event of 2021 was due to take place in Rabat but has been moved to Gateshead due to the coronavirus pandemic. It means Gateshead International Stadium will be staging its first international grand prix meeting since 2010 and it will offer welcome competitive opportunities to British athletes ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

These include athletes on the Futures Academy Programme supported by Nike such as Amy Hunt. The world under-18 record-holder for 200m is part of the 100m field in Gateshead with Asher-Smith – a line-up that is so busy it will require heats at the start of the programme before a final later in the evening.

Over the years there have been many historic performances at Gateshead International Stadium. In 2006 Asafa Powell equalled the 100m world record of 9.77 seconds, while Brendan Foster smashed the 3000m world record there with 7:35.2 in 1974. In the field, world pole vault records have been broken at Gateshead by Daniela Bartova in 1995 and Yelena Isinbayeva in 2003 and 2004.

The Müller Grand Prix Gateshead will be broadcast live internationally from 7pm-9pm, but the meeting will start at 6pm with a series of para athletics events, as well as some of the Wanda Diamond League field competitions.

British Athletics looks forward to welcoming back fans in some capacity for next month’s event and is taking every step to remain as flexible as possible in order to manage ticket distribution accordingly. As a result tickets will go on sale during the week commencing May 10, allowing for the maximum number of fans allowed to attend in line with the latest government roadmap announcement.

Some 400 children in Birmingham will lose out this summer unless £48,000 can urgently be raised for the Sea Cadets' On The Water youth programme.

The programme provides children and young people with a new life experience and skills as well as accredited qualifications, opening up new horizons and job opportunities for children and young people within the maritime sector and the watersports industry.
 
"We've been planning on giving children in hard-to-reach communities of Birmingham opportunities never before available to them through our On The Water programme," said Daniel McAllister, Sea Cadets' Director of Fundraising and Communications.

"As we all begin to emerge from prolonged lockdown, it's the best possible moment to give our children access to an amazing opportunity.

It's been a difficult year to fundraise for youth projects. We appeal to your generosity to support our On The Water so that the Birmingham community can benefit from the programme."
 
Although the national project will go ahead, an additional £48,000 needs to be raised by next week for the programme to be rolled out in Birmingham.

Nine of the original European Super League clubs, including the Premier League's 'big six', have been given a financial punishment by UEFA.

The nine - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, plus AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid - have also committed to the European governing body and its competitions. However, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are set to face the appropriate action under UEFA's disciplinary process.

The trio have refused to renounce the breakaway league.

The ESL was announced on 18 April but within 48 hours the plans had fallen apart with the English clubs withdrawing after fan protests and UK government pressure. The nine clubs have agreed to make a combined 15m euros (£13.4m) goodwill contribution to benefit children's and grassroots football across Europe.

They will also have 5% of UEFA competition revenues withheld for one season, starting in 2023-24, and this money will be redistributed, including in the UK. Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer will pay his club's portion of the goodwill contribution and the competition revenue, which will not come out of club funds.

Arsenal's owners, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, are committed to meeting all costs incurred by the ESL while a Tottenham statement said: "Any fines will be the responsibility of the owners." The nine clubs face fines of 100m euros (£86.9m) each if they seek to join an unauthorised competition in the future, and a fine of half that if they breach any other terms of the declaration, UEFA said in a statement.

They will also re-join the influential lobbying group the European Club Association.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: "I said at the UEFA congress two weeks ago that it takes a strong organisation to admit making a mistake, especially in these days of trial by social media. These clubs have done just that.

"In accepting their commitments and willingness to repair the disruption they caused, UEFA wants to put this chapter behind it and move forward in a positive spirit. These clubs recognised their mistakes quickly and have acted to demonstrate their contrition and future commitment to European football.

"The same cannot be said for the clubs that remain involved in the so-called Super League and UEFA will deal with those clubs subsequently."

An agreement has been reached between LLDC and UK Athletics for the Müller Anniversary Games to be moved away from the London Stadium in 2021.

A spokesperson for LLDC commented: “This event is an important part of London Stadium’s summer schedule and will remain so in future years.

“However, because of the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on other events at the stadium, in particular the usual concert programme, it was important to reach an agreement with UK Athletics to remove the need to reconfigure the Stadium for one event. We are grateful that UK Athletics have agreed to a revised proposal that covers the costs of relocation and disruption to their plans.”

Joanna Coates, Chief Executive of UK Athletics added: “Our priority has been to stage the event at the London Stadium. Unfortunately, that has proven impossible.

“As a result, we have agreed to a settlement that allows us to mitigate losses and invest significant resource into the sport to help our athletes succeed. We will now be putting on a world class event at another UK stadium and will be announcing further details in the near future.”

Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis takes on pole vault rivals Sam Kendricks and Piotr Lisek at the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead.

Just over a year ago Swedish star Duplantis set a world record of 6.18m at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow and in little over a fortnight he will return to the UK to face a strong field that includes double world champion Kendricks of the United States and world championships bronze medallist Lisek of Poland.

Will the world record fall again? Much depends on the weather in North East England on May 23, but a great competition is guaranteed at the opening meeting of the 2021 Wanda Diamond League season.

The trio finished one-two-three at the World Athletics Championships in Doha two years ago and Duplantis, who finished runner-up to Kendricks on that occasion, said: “I’m hugely excited to be heading back to the UK to compete at the Müller Grand Prix Gateshead this month. I have great memories of vaulting in the UK. My first World Championships was in London four years ago and I set a world record of 6.18m in Glasgow just over a year ago.

“I’ve heard the women’s pole vault world record has been broken a few times in Gateshead over the years so if we get good conditions then hopefully we can clear some good heights. The support is always good at British meetings and it’s another important event on the road to Tokyo.”

Indeed, Daniela Bartova of the Czech Republic set a women’s world record of 4.14m at Gateshead in 1995 while Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia set world marks of 4.82m in 2003 and 4.87m in 2004 at the same venue.

Kendricks said: “The United Kingdom loves athletics. When you get to jump for people who love the sport, you can feel it! It has been the site of some of my greatest achievements – the Anniversary Games, World Cup and World Championships have all been good to me with gold medals and I am happy to return.

“Mondo's greatest achievements have also come in the same areas, with his keynote world record being just north in Glasgow indoors. We love to compete together and always bring the best from one another.

“He is extremely hard to beat these days, and I love the challenge of world champion jumping against the world record-holder!”

Lisek added: “I’ve competed in the UK a number of times – in London, Birmingham and Glasgow – and it’s always good support there from a knowledgeable crowd. I’m looking forward to competing in Gateshead on 23rd May in this important Olympic year. A strong line-up is being assembled but I’m ready for the challenge.”

The event was due to take place in Rabat but has been moved to Gateshead due to the coronavirus pandemic. It means Gateshead International Stadium will be staging its first international grand prix meeting since 2010 and it will offer welcome competitive opportunities to British athletes ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This allows Harry and Charlie Myers to be part of this world-class pole vault line-up.

Coppell, who set a British record of 5.85m at the Müller British Athletics Championships in Manchester last September, said: “If you’d said this time last year that we’d have the world’s best vaulters all in Gateshead for a competition like this, no one would have believed it. It’s brilliant that everyone’s coming over and for myself and Charlie to have the opportunity to jump in a Diamond League on home soil is great.”

The Müller Grand Prix Gateshead will be broadcast live internationally from 7pm-9pm, but the meeting will start at 6pm with a series of para-athletics events, as well as some of the Wanda Diamond League field competitions.

British Athletics is looking forward to welcoming back fans in some capacity for this month’s event and is taking every step to remain as flexible as possible in order to manage ticket distribution accordingly. As a result tickets will go on sale during the week commencing May 10, allowing for the maximum number of fans allowed to attend in line with the latest government roadmap announcement.

A landmark naming rights deal has been struck for one of the UK’s leading multipurpose sports, business and entertainment venues based in the Midlands.

Coventry’s Ricoh Arena will be known as the Coventry Building Society Arena for the next ten years from this summer, after Coventry Building Society agreed a long-term deal with the venue owners Wasps Group.

The sponsorship by the UK’s second largest building society, one of the country’s top ten best employers, underlines the organisation’s commitment to Coventry and the wider region, and its desire to put the Coventry name firmly on the national map.

As part of the first change of name to the venue since it opened in 2005, the Coventry Building Society brand will be prominent inside and outside the venue, and the agreement will see the two organisations working together to develop and deliver programmes for the benefit of the wider local community.

The Coventry-based venue is the home of Wasps Rugby and Wasps Netball – and the major sponsorship agreement comes as the venue prepares to welcome back Coventry City Football Club in August, before hosting a Rugby League World Cup clash in October, as well as being part of Coventry UK City of Culture and next year’s Commonwealth Games.

Stephen Vaughan, Wasps Group Chief Executive, said completing such a major deal underlined the appeal and ambition of the venue.

He said: “We are thrilled to be joining forces with Coventry Building Society as we embark on a hugely exciting period for the venue with the imminent return of Wasps and Coventry City supporters, along with the reopening of our conferencing, event facilities and hotel.

“This is far more than simply a naming rights deal – we absolutely had to ensure that we united with an organisation that shares our vision for the arena and our values around what we want to deliver in the wider community. Coventry Building Society’s plans underpin ours in so many ways, so the fit is really strong and we will put the arena and its fantastic facilities at the heart of our plans. 

“Coventry Building Society, like our venue, has strong local roots and a national reach, and we are looking forward to supporting each other over the coming years. It is an exciting time for the venue and we are thrilled to be sharing it with such great people and an iconic business.

“On behalf of the venue I’d also like to place on record my sincere thanks to Ricoh, who have been a brilliant sponsor and partner over the years, and we look forward to continue working with them in the future.”

Steve Hughes, CEO of Coventry Building Society, added: “This is a fantastic partnership for us, for Wasps and for the city of Coventry. Two of the biggest brands in the area joining forces shows our commitment to the city and it comes at an exciting time when UK City of Culture and the Commonwealth Games brings Coventry into the international spotlight.

“The Coventry Building Society Arena puts our name on the map and will raise our profile across the UK. We already have more than two million members, but this is a statement of intent that shows we want to grow further and help many more people achieve their financial aspirations.”

Darin Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Coventry Building Society, said: “Coventry Building Society and Wasps already work to support local communities in Coventry and Warwickshire. By joining forces, we plan to make the Coventry Building Society Arena a focal point for the community, bringing together people and organisations across the city to make a positive difference to everyone who lives here.

“The arena is not only a top class venue for sport, music and business events, it’s also a Coventry landmark.

“Many of our members and our colleagues are proud Wasps and Coventry City supporters. I hope that they’ll be excited to see our name on the stadium and see this partnership develop over the next ten years.”

Adam Benson, Wasps’ Chief Commercial Officer, added: “Coventry Building Society is the perfect fit as a new naming rights partner. They are committed to excellence in customer service, care passionately about the culture of their business and understand the vital role they have to play in making a difference to the communities in which we live and work. 

“These shared values will allow us to create a unique partnership for the benefit of everyone – members, supporters, customers, employees and local residents.”