Sports News

The organisers of London 2017 – the IAAF and IPC World Athletics Championships – today announced a priority opportunity for people who form the grassroots of athletics to have the chance to attend the global event next year. The ‘athletics family’ – comprising of club members, coaches, volunteers and supporters – have all been invited to register for a priority purchase window to buy tickets for the biggest sporting event to be staged at the former Olympic Stadium since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Action for Children is looking for runners to join its IAAF World Half Marathon team ahead of the prestigious event taking place in Cardiff on March 26^th.  The event is the perfect opportunity for runners of all ages and abilities to run in the footsteps of champions, as this mass participation event is being run simultaneously to the elite race, for the first time ever in the UK.

One lucky member of the public will secure a £150 per hour job as a ‘hidden paintball sniper’ – a key and painful obstacle in the world’s first ‘mud run’ to be ran exclusively at night. The successful applicant will also be given pre-event sniper training by ex-SAS marksmen, in readiness for its first race on the 16^th April 2016. In a particularly unique job ad, Night Games Races hopes to recruit a paintball sniper to join its sniper team, for the first race on the 16th April 2016 at Deene Park, Northamptonshire.

Birmingham City Ladies Football Club (BCLFC) has announced renowned businessman Tim Andrews as CEO, with immediate effect. The appointment of Tim Andrews marks a new era for BCLFC, which remains in the highest division of women’s football in England, the FA Women’s Super League. In the role of CEO, Tim Andrews will be responsible for off-field activities, particularly developing the club in an ever-increasingly competitive and financially demanding climate.

The Lycamobile British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA), which take place on 6 February 2016 at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, have announced that Frank Bruno MBE will be honoured for his contribution to the world of sport. Frank Bruno will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award which is given to a sportsperson who has had a major impact on the world of sport and charity in their lifetime. He follows in the footsteps of Denise Lewis OBE who received the award last year.

Lightsaber professionals for a decade, the best representatives of LudoSport will land in San Francisco CA, to present the "sporting lightsaber combat", an italian discipline created in 2006.  An answer to the many requests of spreading this fascinating sport. Sporting Lightsaber Combat was born under the LudoSport name in Milan, Italy ten years ago.

British Athletics has confirmed that the IPC Grand Prix Final will now take place on Saturday 23 July 2016, incorporated into the Diamond League element of the London Anniversary Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Following consultation with both athletes and spectators, the decision was taken to ensure that the world’s top athletes can have the best possible competition experience before finalising their preparations for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

UK Athletics (UKA) has published its document ‘A Manifesto for Clean Athletics’, which calls for a wide-ranging debate about measures that could be introduced to achieve a new era of clean athletics. In addition, following the conclusions of the Performance Oversight Committee’s (POC) Oregon Review (announced 18/09/15), UKA is publishing the recommendations.

Wolverhampton will be welcoming the Jolly Joggers to West Park for the first time next weekend. The new group, which meets for the first time on Saturday 16 January, 2016, will give people the chance to improve their mental health and wellbeing through exercise. Participants will be encouraged to set their own goals to walk, jog or run around the picturesque city centre park, while having fun at the same time.

It was a table-topping performance for the British team at the Great Edinburgh XCountry claiming three individual victories on a day which saw Mo Farah return to Cross Country action with a second place finish. Farah, who was returning to the scene of his last race on the cross country circuit five years ago, was unable to follow up his 2011 performance finishing two seconds behind USA’s Garrett Heath.

Olympic medal-winning gymnast Louis Smith has swapped the pommel horse for man’s best friend today as he fronts the first ever celebrity fitness video for man and dog. Petsercise with Louis Smith sees the Team GB hero guide viewers through a fun and high tempo home workout – with the addition of two dogs exercising alongside him

A number of figures within the athletics community have been recognised by the Queen in the New Year Honours list. Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Stephen Miller has been awarded an MBE for his services to sport. Miller triumphed in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens during an unprecedented 12-year unbeaten run in the club throw between 1996 and 2008. The 35 year old remains a mainstay within the British team, as he prepares to make his mark on his sixth Paralympic Games in Rio in the summer of 2016.

The first weekend of 2016 saw a number of big victories, some much-needed wins and the end of an era for one BBL venue. Leicester Riders said farewell to their Loughborough home with a bang as they signed off in style with a 91-43 defeat of Leeds Force. Tyler Bernardini and Drew Sullivan both had 13 points for the Riders, whose next home game will be later this month at their new purpose-built arena in Leicester.

Current English middleweight champion, Lewis Taylor (18-1-1) will clash with unbeaten Birmingham boxer, Tommy Langford (15-0) on February 13^th at Liverpool’s Echo Arena for the vacant Commonwealth middleweight title and Langford’s WBO Inter-Continental strap. The Frank Warren promotion is headlined by Terry Flanagan’s (29-0) WBO World lightweight title defence against Derry Mathews (38-9-2) in what will be a Manchester v Liverpool derby titled, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

Great Britain Senior Women will return to Manchester for their two vital EuroBasket Women 2017 qualification games in February. Head Coach Jose Maria Buceta will lead his side into Group C clashes with Albania and Montenegro, as the team looks to revive its prospects of reaching a fabulous fourth consecutive appearance at Eurobasket Women Final Round.