UK Athletics has today announced the first British athletes to be selected for this summer’s World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon (15-24 July). Five marathon athletes will represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the men’s and women’s races which are due to take place on the 17th and 18th July respectively.

The first trees have been planted in Solihull as part of Severn Trent’s initiative to create 2022-acres of Commonwealth Forest across the Midlands. The 15 acres of new habitat at Hope Coppice will be open to the public to explore and will equate to around 9,400 trees. 

As Birmingham 2022’s Official Nature & Carbon Neutral Supporter, Severn Trent is delivering a series of initiatives to leave a social and environmental legacy following Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Team England athlete Hayley Carruthers will help plant a series of trees in Pype Hayes Park to celebrate Birmingham’s status as a Queen’s Green Canopy Champion City tomorrow (Thursday 10 March).

The Birmingham-based marathon runner will join Councillor Mike Sharpe (Birmingham Lord Mayor’s Deputy) Cllr John O’Shea (Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Parks at Birmingham City Council) and members of the local community including Yenton Primary School to plant one thousand new trees at the park in Erdington.

Birmingham 2022, the organisers of this summer’s Commonwealth Games, has issued a reminder that the search for 20 talented local people to be part of the Games as In Venue Hosts and Announcers ends on 6 March. The successful applicants will be able to kick start a career in sports presentation, carrying out roles which will involve them engaging with the thousands of spectators expected to fill each of the official competition venues this summer.

Dawn Staley, who made history as the first female Black head coach for South Carolina Gamecocks Women’s Basketball, is now the highest-paid Black coach in women’s college basketball after signing a 7-year contract worth $22.4 million.

As part of the contract, Staley’s base salary will be $1 million per year with outside compensation starting at $1.9 million on the first year, increasing by $100,000 each year after that.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Holly Mills and Charlie Da’Vall Grice have been added to the British team for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia later this month. Reigning pentathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Holly Mills have received invitations from World Athletics, which have been accepted by UK Athletics, to compete in the five-event competition in Belgrade next month.