Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i AW - Athletics Weekly Magazine

It was a gathering of great significance. Not only was it the first time that three generations of British Olympic 800m champions had met up, but it also helped to illustrate just how far athletics and, more importantly, how far women’s athletics - has come. Ann Packer, Kelly Holmes and Keely Hodgkinson have all experienced that gold medal-winning feeling on the sport’s greatest stage and the organisers of last month’s Great Manchester Run arranged for the trio to be able to compare notes and exchange stories about being members of what is a particularly exclusive club. Packer’s moment came at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. She competed internationally in the sprints, hurdles and long jump and was Britain’s fourth-ranked pentathlete in 1963. Going into the Olympics she was better known…

"I WILL RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE WITH ANYONE WHO SUGGESTS THAT THESE MANUFACTURED EVENTS ARE NOT BENEFICIAL FOR ATHLETICS I've had a vision - quite a specific one - for a few years now and I think I need to speak to Barry Hearn about it. For anyone unfamiliar, Hearn is the sports promoting maestro who guided snooker through its 1980s heyday (and beyond) and has recently turned darts into Britain's biggest sporting party, generating an enormous £1 million prize fund for next year's world champion. Hearn has made a career out of thinking outside of the box. Which brings me to my vision. It isn't about athletics, but you'll get the gist. The setting: Tower Bridge, London. The headline acts: Tom Daley, Jack Laugher, Andrea Spendolini-Sirieux and the rest of Britain's…

The World Athletics Relays took place on May 10-11 in Guangzhou, China, as teams from around the globe fought to guarantee their places at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, which will take place in Tokyo in September. The top 14 finishers in each of the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays, plus the mixed 4x400m, booked their tickets. Two additional spots in each event will be awarded later through the World Athletics rankings system, which is based on performance points across the season. EDUAN LIVES UP TO HER NAME Great Britain laid down an impressive marker by securing gold in the women’s 4x100m. In an enthralling final, the quartet of Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, Amy Hunt, Bianca Williams and Success Eduan combined to clock 42.21, seeing off Spain, Jamaica and the…

I remember myself and Christian Malcolm being part of the UK launch of Nike's "Swift Suit" in London 25 years ago. It was not a garment I fell in love with and there's a picture somewhere of me wearing it, looking less than impressed. The first time we saw it we thought: "what on earth is this?" To those of you who might not remember, it was a sleek, full body suit - including hood - designed to make its wearer more aerodynamic as they made their way around the track. This was at a time when the development of swim suits at the elite end was also making headline news and leading the discussion when it came to technological advances in sport. I don't like having things on my…

While Faith Kipyegon is channeling all of her energies towards her attempt at becoming the first woman to break the four-minute barrier for the mile, it's now 51 years since Diane Leather created history by being the first female athlete to cover the distance in under five minutes. It was on May 29, 1954 that the Birchfield Harrier wrote herself into the record books, just a few short weeks after Roger Bannister's groundbreaking sub four-minute mile performance at Iffley Road had made headline news throughout the world. The June 5 issue of Athletics Weekly from that year provides a brief summary of an eventful week for the then 21-year-old. "Gallant failure of Diane Leather," says the headline of her sub-five attempt from May 26 at the Birchfield Harriers Spring Meeting.…

Cordell Tinch enjoyed a breakthrough moment at the Diamond League in Keqiao, China, on May 3 when he went No.4 on the world all-time rankings for 110m hurdles with 12.87 (0.6). The 24-year-old American won by 23 hundredths of a second from Rachid Muratake of Japan, with Rasheed Broadbell third. Only Grant Holloway (12.81), Devon Allen (12.84) and world record-holder Aries Merritt (12.80) have ever run quicker, whereas Dayron Robles has also clocked 12.87 but with a slightly stronger tailwind.…

Hannah Cockroft has become used to appearing on podiums. With nine Paralympic gold medals, multiple world titles and established as a dominant force in wheelchair racing for over a decade, she has long been recognised as one of Britain's most successful para athletes. But there are some honours that still manage to cut through - even for someone with her track record. Earlier this year, the 32-year-old received a CBE for services to sport. It wasn't her first trip to Buckingham Palace, having been awarded an OBE after Tokyo 2020. It was also a repeat meeting with Princess Anne, who greeted Cockroft with a knowing smile and a quick comment. "Oh, you're back again," said the Princess Royal. "It was really cool," Cockroft says. "I got my OBE from her…

To be a runner, it is inevitable that you will befriend pain. In the beginning there will be the body's bewildered questioning of every mile that is one further than ever before. And then there will be the raw salt-water burn of sweat creeping into a broken blister, the dull yet satisfactory ache of muscles rinsed clean through repetitive use and the all-consuming flood of lactic as every inch of your body craves the finish line. This is to name but a few of the sensations I have collected like rare botanical specimens over my 20-odd years as a runner, pinning each one with helpful notes in my mind's catalogue. Some are like nettles; a common, endurable sting while others bear highly poisonous fruits and are not to be ignored.…

He didn’t talk about this before the Olympics - or indeed at the Olympics. As the world’s media pressed Karsten Warholm in Paris for the reason why he’d been convincingly beaten by his great rival, Rai Benjamin, the Norwegian chose not to go there. He didn’t lie, but he did omit some key context - not wanting to be the athlete who raises the shield of excuses after coming up short. But the reality? Warholm struggled through last year with a chronic hamstring tendon issue, one that limited both the quantity and quality of his training. “Those two work hand in hand,” he says now. “The volume comes first and then comes the quality. You can’t do all the training you want and, mostly, you can’t do it at the…

“Faith could do things in training that I didn’t even know she was capable of. She is able to really push when she needs to Bram Som How does an extraordinary athlete, who has already run a mile almost five seconds quicker than any woman in history, possibly prepare to knock seven more off her time? It is a herculean undertaking that will have occupied much of Faith Kipyegon and her esteemed coach Patrick Sang's thoughts in recent weeks since her audacious quest was announced to become the first woman ever to run a mile in under four minutes. The Kenyan will have the benefit of assistance for her attempt in Paris, rendering it unratifiable under World Athletics rules. The precise details have not been released, but it will almost certainly…

It’s the kind of moment that makes it all worthwhile and can keep a coach motivated for months. Colin Thomas was stood on the roadside behind a barrier, roughly 6km from the finish line of the London Marathon, and on the lookout for some familiar faces. He was there to support some of the athletes he mentors, as well as friends who were taking to the streets to raise money for charity. But one particular participant that the Scot has worked with was putting together the run of his life. As he peered down the road for signs of the oncoming elite field, Thomas was frustratingly short of information. He had seen Sabastian Sawe positioned within the lead group at the halfway mark but, with the tracking app not working…

As an athlete, you may have attended nutritional advice seminars or worked with a specialist sports dietician, yet you may not have explored the mental health side of food in performance sport. You may be reading this with a diagnosed eating disorder, disordered eating, or as someone who has been able to recognise the dangers. There is such an ocean of possibilities around how we engage with food thatsometimes the smallest of changes in our behaviour surrounding it can go unnoticed, accumulate and, before we know it, we are out of our depth. We are constantly bombarded with advice on how to live a “healthier” life butso much of it is of poor quality and based on dubiously sourced information. Our understanding of nutrition is often clouded by misunderstood science,…

8:11.56 Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Beatrice Chebet started her summer with a bang, running 8:11.56 for 3000m at the Rabat Diamond League on May 25. It was a Kenyan record and the second-quickest time in history behind Wang Junxia’s long-standing world record of 8:06.11 from 1993. Behind, Nadia Battocletti ran an Italian record of 8:26.27, with Sarah Healy of Ireland a close third in 8:27.02. "I was not preparing a world record attempt," said Chebet. "I just came to run my personal best and I succeeded. I just have to believe in myself and then maybe after some months or years, that world record will come. It is just a matter of time and I don't want to rush things." 8:01.49 While Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali took the acclaim…

After training with Cathy Freeman in the lead-up to an unforgettable race, the British sprinter ran a PB by almost half a second but just missed out on a medal as the crowd saluted what was a momentous victory by an Australian icon I had an interesting journey leading into 2000 because, after the Commonwealth Games in the winter of 1998, I got injured in one of my first training sessions. The plan had been for me to move up to the 400m hurdles but that injury completely scuppered the idea, so I spent most of 1999 trying to get fit again, get my ankle strong, make the team for the World Championships and use that as a stepping stone for 2000. When you're out of the sport, to get…

Faith Kipyegon is no stranger to making history. In Paris last summer, winning the women’s Olympic 1500m final meant she became the first athlete – male or female – to take gold in the event at three different Games. She is a three-time world champion over the distance, too, while she also has a 5000m world title to her name from Budapest two years ago. Then there are the world records. No woman has ever gone faster over 1500m, the Kenyan having clocked 3:49.04 last year, while her mile mark of 4:07.64 from 2023 knocked almost five seconds off the previous record. Her place as a running great – arguably the greatest ever – is already safely assured. However,should she hit her next “moonshoot” target, then the 31-year-old will move…

ADIDAS TERREX AGRAVIC GTX Adidas.co.uk £140 For those off-road runs in the wet, this Gore-Tex shoe provides waterproof protection from the elements. A new Lightstrike 2.0 midsole provides responsive cushioning and off-road stability, with a rockered geometry to give a smooth roll-off. The Continental rubber outsole with 4mm lugs works well in the wet, as you'd expect from a Gore-Tex shoe, providing a confident footing on any terrain. As well as the waterproof upper, the Agravic features a slightly higher ankle collar to keep debris out and create a snug fit around the rearfoot and ankle. The shoe feels strong and well-made, making it capable of tackling harsher conditions in both wet and dry conditions. ARC'TERYX NORVAN LD4 Arcteryx.com £150 The latest version of the Norvan retains its midsole geometry, which gives it…

1 Who finished second to Faith Kipyegon when the Kenyan broke the mile world record in Monaco two years ago? 2 Can you name the two other world records Kipyegon broke in the space of 50 days during that summer? 3 In which year was the women's mile world record first officially recognised by the then IAAF, now World Athletics? a) 1947 b) 1957 c) 1967 4 Which athlete currently holds the British women's mile record? 5 Can you name the athlete whose mark she surpassed? 6 Can you name the British woman who was the first official mile world record-holder? 7 Which US athlete was the women's mile world record-holder three times during the 1980s? 8 How long did Russian athlete Svetlana Masterkova's mark of 4:12.56, set in 1996, last…

JUNE 9 • FBK Games Hengelo fbkgames.nl JUNE 10 • BMC Gold Standard Races Manchester britishmilersclub.com JUNE 11 • Watford Open Graded Meeting watfordharriers.org.uk JUNE 11-14 • NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships Eugene ncaa.com JUNE 12 • Bislett Games Oslo diamondleague.com JUNE 14-15 • Welsh Athletics U13/15/20 Track & Field Championships Swansea welshathletics.org • University of Birmingham Track & Field Festival ubsportathletic.co.uk JUNE 14 • UK Athletics 10,000m Championships Birmingham britishathletics.org.uk • British Milers Club Record Breaker with Lagan Valley AC Belfast britishmilersclub.com JUNE 15 • Stockholm Diamond League Meeting diamondleague.com JUNE 17 • Paavo Nurmi Games Turku paavonurmigames.fi JUNE 18 • Loughborough Open lboro.ac.uk JUNE 20 • Meeting de Paris diamondleague.com JUNE 21 • 4J Studios scottishathletics SUPERteams - National Final Dundee scottishathletics.org.uk • BMC Grand…