Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i AW - Athletics Weekly Magazine

It was almost a throwaway line, an afterthought at the end of an interview, but it's a remark that lodged in my mind. My colleague Tim Adams was talking to the British sprinter Amy Hunt after her performance at the Keely Klassic in Birmingham last month. The 22-year-old is one of the most articulate, engaging interviewees on the circuit and she had been talking about everything from being based in Italy to the expectations she has been placing on herself for the year ahead. Just as the conversation was about to wind up, Tim asked for her thoughts on the changes happening in the athletics world at the moment, given the impending arrival of Grand Slam Track and the emergence of events such as the Keely Klassic that are trying…

After dramatically falling at the Olympic trials, Rhys Williams knew his place at London 2012 was on the line in Finland and the Welshman produced a victorious performance to complete his set of European Championships medals I was living in London ahead of the 2012 Olympics. You could feel the big hype and I was probably in the thick of it, being based in Lee Valley. I'd missed out on going to Beijing in 2008 when I got an injury, so that was fuel. But whereas a lot of athletes hit the qualifying standards easily, go to the championships and are contenders for a medal, I was always just about scraping the standard to get to a championships. I was kind of a semi-finalist standard, a top 16 athlete, so…

The theme of this issue of AW is change in athletics and there's a lot that's different about the present day in comparison to when I was competing. My first thought when I began to consider this topic is that everything around the sport feels more frantic and a little less stable. Whereas in the past we might have had more household names who were in long-established coaching set-ups, there is now definitely a lot more flitting around and, when you talk to athletes, there's a lot more urgency. Everything is speeding up, and not just when it comes to the times on the track. When there's a general desire in the wider world for instant gratification and results from things, that is inevitably going to trickle down into sport…

They say “only ever look back to see how far you have come” but in the ever-spinning world of athletics even the slightest glance over one's shoulder down the home straight is considered a huge faux pas. Might we just stop for a minute, though, to take stock of how much track and field itself is winning (or losing) by at the moment? For sure, these are my subjective opinions on a race that I hope will never be over, but when I do choose to look back at how the sport was faring ten years ago compared to now, I'd say running might still have a long way to go compared to other sports but it is picking up some rather promising momentum. Wind the clocks back to February…

“It's an astonishing sight, I must say. The Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila, is racing barefoot,” went the BBC Radio commentary of the Olympic marathon in Rome, 1960. When Bikila won that race, people were amazed. His performance was broadcast globally and viewed with incredulity as he sped, unshod, over the unforgiving surface of the roads and broke the world record with his time of 2:15:16.2. Four years later, at the Tokyo Olympics, Bikila triumphed again, breaking the tape in 2:12:11.2. This time, he was wearing shoes, the latest PUMA model that featured a thin, rudimentary midsole. But no-one pointed back then and said of the performance: “It's the shoes”. Fast forward to the present day and we find ourselves in an era that has witnessed the most significant developments in commercially…

S361 PHOENIX 361europe.co.uk £140 Blending stability and responsive cushioning into a new midsole design, the Phoenix provides lightweight support for the best ride from the brand yet. The shoe's geometry contributes to the overall stability and helps control the foot in an unintrusive manner that's effective and also encourages a fast toe-off. The engineered mesh upper is plush and welcoming and elevates the overall fit, feel and aesthetic of the shoe, giving it a modern look and appeal that should complement its high performance. SAUCONY RIDE 18 Saucony.com £130 Not only do we see small improvements to the latest version of the Ride, but Saucony have also reduced the price in the UK to offer even better value. A reformulated PWRRUN+ midsole foam cushioning sees a lighter, softer and slightly more responsive…

GET IN TOUCH: Email us at haveyoursay@athleticsweekly.com or via our social media channels Yared's true colours I really enjoyed reading the interview with Yared Nuguse in the February issue of AW. It was refreshing to come across an athlete who wants to let their performances do the talking, rather than getting sucked into any phoney wars of words. I'm a big fan of the outspoken Jakob Ingebrigtsen/Josh Kerr rivalry in the men's 1500m and I did wonder if their competitors feela pressure to get involved in that way. If that's not your natural personality, though, then I think trying to be something you're not could expend a lot of energy in the wrong way. Yared's levels are on the rise so his decision to stick with being his “silly little…

Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke not one, but two indoor world records in one race at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin on February 13. In his first competitive outing of the year, the Norwegian clocked 3:45.14 in the mile and surpassed his own world 1500m mark on the way with 3:29.63. It meant Yared Nuguse's world mile record of 3:46.63, set at the Millrose Games, survived only five days. Ingebrigtsen's 1500m split beat the 3:30.60 record which he had set in Lievin in 2022.…

Divine Iheme is a name you will want to remember. The Oxfordshire-based sprinter has recently written his name into the history books as the fastest 15-year-old ever over 60m, breaking the long-standing record of 6.74 set by J-Mee Samuels back in 2003. Not only did Iheme break the record once, but he did it twice, running times of 6.71 and 6.72 at the Lee Valley BFTTA Indoor Series in January. This now places the athlete who is also known as “Lightning Divine” fourth on the UK's all-time 60m under-18 rankings list, trailing only 0.02 behind the 6.69 mark set by Mark Lewis-Francis in 1999. But this isn't Iheme's first brush with greatness. Last summer, he already captured global attention when he ran a world age 14 best of 10.30 over…

Sebastian Coe has stood in enough elections in his life to know that you have to expect the unexpected. But he will surely never experience anything again as surreal as he did during the 2001 UK general election, when he was on the stump canvassing for votes and he ended up fighting on the street with a man dressed as a clown. A British tabloid newspaper had come up with the idea of sending “Krusty” to whichever constituency that Coe's boss and former Conservative Party leader William Hague was campaigning in with the aim of getting a photograph of the two together with the purpose of being able to snatch a picture which would allow them to pose the question: “Which one's the clown?” Coe had been given the job…

Athletics has always been an individual sport and, ultimately, it does come down to the person in the arena to get the job done. However, the importance -and reliance – on a team dynamic has become increasingly clear, particularly at the very top end of the sport. From the rise of the training groups being invested in and promoted by major shoe brands, through to independent projects such as the Manchester-based M11 Track Club that includes the likes of Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell and is led by Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows, there has been an evident shift away from athletes ploughing more of a lone furrow. “I think teams are a really big part of where the sport is going,” says world 800m medallist Meadows, who was…

We live in an age where almost everybody expects to be able to consume what they want, when they want – and that “when” is usually “now”, if not five minutes ago. Seldom does this apply more strongly than when it comes to filmed or televised sport. People want to see it live, not after the event, when everyone has already formed their own opinion and let the world know about it on social media. Many of us have proudly touted for too long to remember that athletics is the “No.1 Olympic sport” and, while this has come under threat at times, I still think it's largely true. However, while athletics has consistently rebuffed all pretenders to the throne – thankfully, breakdancing will not be at the 2028 Olympics in…

The National Cross Country Championships are always a visceral reminder of how vibrant the club athletics scene in the UK can be. Whether it be Parliament Hill in London for the English edition, Callendar Park in Falkirk for Scotland's finest, Brecon for the Welsh championships or Lurgan Park in Northern Ireland, the venues were awash last month with the colours of the organisations that are the sport's lifeblood. To see a young athlete such as Sutton and District's Alex Lennon beaming in his postrace interview with AW after under-17 victory in Hampstead (check out the video online if you haven't seen it, yet) was the perfect example of why so many people – coaches, officials, committee members – pour so much effort into keeping the cogs turning. “National senior strength…

A maiden British title and automatic qualification for the European Athletics Indoor Championships concluded a dream-filled eight days of competition for Justin Davies that began with victory and a Welsh indoor 800m record at the Keely Klassic on February 15. Coached by Martin Rush in Bath since he was 10, the 22-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough 2024 season with a substantial personal best of 1:45.37 at the Watford British Milers’ Club meeting in August. His 1:45.78 performance at the Keely Klassic – which ranks him seventh on the UK indoor all-time list – exceeded the pair's expectations which were focused on achieving the qualifying standards for both the European Indoors (1:46.40) and this summer's European Under-23 Championships (1:46.50). Victory at the British Indoor Championships (1:47.26) – an upgrade from his 2024…

56:41 Jacob Kiplimo sliced 49 seconds off the world half-marathon record in Barcelona on February 16 with an incredible 56:41. In such form, he surely has the potential to smash the world marathon record on his debut over 26.2 miles in London next month. Racing at the eDreams Mitja Marató Barcelona by Brooks, the 24-year-old smashed Yomif Kejelcha's record of 57:30. En route he also set a world best for 15km of 39:47. Kiplimo is a former world record-holder for the half-marathon with 57:31 set in Lisbon in 2021. He also won the world half-marathon title in 2020 and world cross-country crowns in 2023 and 2024, whereas on the track his best times are 12:40.96 for 5000m and 26:33.93 for 10,000m. 14:39 Dutch athlete Diane Van Es broke the European…

Given the tightrope that the world's best athletes perpetually tread between supreme fitness and plan-shredding injury, billing an event around one name was always going to be a massive risk. That point was underlined emphatically when the news came through that a hamstring problem sustained during training was going to stop Keely Hodgkinson from competing at the meeting which bears her name on February 15. Plan A had been for the Olympic champion to bring the house down at the inaugural Keely Klassic at Birmingham's Utilita Arena by destroying the 800m indoor world record that has stood since the very day she was born. It was a beautifully crafted script and the fact that it had to be torn up and that she wasn't even able to toe the starting…

“I ‘m human,” says Grant Holloway. “I've lost races before.” No sooner has he uttered that remark, however, than he breaks into a knowing smile and immediately qualifies his statement. “Outdoors more than indoors.” For over a decade now, the American has been nothing but unbeatable over the 60m hurdles. You would have to turn the clock back to March 16, 2014, when he was just 16 and competing at the New York New Balance Nationals to unearth the last time the now 27-year-old didn't finish first over that distance. He's pretty formidable over the 110m hurdles outdoors, too, having charged to the first Olympic gold of his career last summer, adding another honour to a pile that already contained an Olympic silver, three world titles outdoors and two indoors.…

Test your knowledge of the 2024 World Indoor Champs with our teasers 1 Who did Belgian Alexander Doom beat to 400m World Indoor gold in Glasgow? 2 Can you name the events in which Great Britain won medals during the championships? 3 What mid-competition technique has Australian high jump champion Nicola Olyslagers become well known for? 4 Molly Caudery won the women's pole vault competition in Glasgow, but why was the competition delayed midway through? 5 Last year's women's 3000m champion Elle St Pierre has a busy life away from the track. What business is her family heavily involved in? 6 Which event was the Emirates Arena built for and which venue did it replace as host of major indoor athletics meetings in Glasgow? 7 Glasgow is one of just two British cities to have hosted the…

MARCH 6-9 • European Athletics Indoor Championships Apeldoorn european-athletics.com MARCH 8 • British Athletics Cross Challenge Final and UK Inter-Counties Championships Wollaton Park, Nottingham britishathletics.org.uk MARCH 9 • 4J scottishathletics National Indoor Senior & U17 Championships Glasgow scottishathletics.org.uk • BFTTA Indoor Series 3 Lee Valley befittodaytrackacademy.co.uk • Manchester Indoor Open Meeting Sportcity saleharriersmanchester.com • EDP Lisbon Half Marathon maratonaclubedeportugal.com • The MBNA Chester 10km activeleisureevents.co.uk/chester-10k MARCH 14-15 • NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships Virginia Beach NCAA.com MARCH 15 • Podium Festival Leicester sportsshoes.com • English Schools Cross Country Championships Ardingly Showground, Sussex esaa.org.uk • British Masters Cross Country Championships Glasgow bmaf.org.uk MARCH 15-16 • European Throwing Cup Nicosia european-athletics.com • Oklahoma Throws Series sealthrowingclub.com MARCH 16 • United Airlines NYC Half nyrr.org • Zurich Marató Barcelona zurichmaratobarcelona.es…

Though the “World Indoor Games” had taken place in 1985, it was two years later when the inaugural IAAF World Indoor Championships were staged – in the vast expanses of the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Mel Watman was there to see it all unfold and, in the March 21 issue of Athletics Weekly that year, wrote that it “must be adjudged a success from most points of view”. Of the showpiece at which 84 countries were represented, he added: “The facilities were superb and so was the standard of performance. World indoor records were established in the men's 60m (Ben Johnson 6.41), men's 60m hurdles (Greg Foster 7.46), women's 200m (Heike Drechsler 22.27), women's high jump (Stefka Kostadinova 2.05m) and – controversially – in both walks (Mikhail Schenikov 18:27.79 5000m…