Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i AW - Athletics Weekly Magazine

The life-changing experiences are coming thick and fast for Phoebe Gill. This time last year, the teenager was still digesting her appearance at the Paris Olympics and the end of a whirlwind summer in which she had become the senior British 800m champion and European under-18 record-holder. Now, after a rather quieter sporting time – due not just to her recovery from a fibula stress fracture, but also a strong focus on her A levels – she is preparing for another landmark event. University beckons and the St Albans athlete is venturing north, to Scotland, to further her education both on and off the track. She has become the first major signing for the University of Edinburgh's ambitious Global Endurance Project, being led by renowned coach and 1988 Olympic 3000m…

To my mind, the omens look good for these world championships. I've started having the first flutters of excitement and I'm sensing the same from the athletes. I think the best sign is that, having experienced the 2021 Olympics, so many of them can't wait to go back to that national stadium in Tokyo – and not just because of the chance to compete there in front of a crowd. It's known for being a great venue, with a fast track, and this time it will be with a full experience. I, for one, am looking forward to not having to do a spit test every morning to get into the place! Working at those Olympics – as stadium presenter alongside Geoff Wightman – will always be one of the…

According to his coach, Danny Mackey, there are two sides to Josh Kerr. One is the super confident, hyper competitive figure that the public sees and is also only too happy to throw in the occasional verbal hand grenade to provoke a reaction from his opponents. The other is the softer, “thoughtful” individual who dotes on Mackey's three-year-old daughter and “makes you feel cared for”. Both are very real, but to see the latter traits as some kind of weakness would be a big mistake. “My mentor, [the renowned coach] Dan Pfaff, does a lot of work with Special Forces, and one of the highest qualities in military people is empathy,” explains Mackey, head coach of the US-based Brooks Beasts group. “They're just softies and Josh is like that. He's…

MEN 100m: Carl Lewis (USA) 9.86 (WR) 200m: Michael Johnson (USA) 20.01 400m: Antonio Pettigrew (USA) 44.57 800m: Billy Konchellah (KEN) 1:43.99 1500m: Noureddine Morceli (ALG) 3:32.84 5000m: Yobes Ondieki (KEN) 13:14.45 10,000m: Moses Tanui (KEN) 27:38.74 Marathon: Hiromi Taniguchi (JPN) 2:14:57 3000m steeplechase: Moses Kiptanui (KEN) 8:12.59 110m hurdles: Greg Foster (USA) 13.06 400m hurdles: Samuel Matete (ZAM) 47.64 High jump: Charles Austin (USA) 2.38m Pole vault: Sergey Bubka (URS) 5.95m Long jump: Mike Powell (USA) 8.95m (WR) Triple jump: Khristo Markov (BUL) 17.92m Shot: Werner Gunthor (SUI) 21.67m Discus: Lars Riedel (GER) 66.20m Hammer: Yuriy Sedykh (URS) 81.70m Javelin: Kimmo Kinnunen (FIN) 90.82m Decathlon: Dan O'Brien (USA) 8812 20km walk: Maurizio Damilano (ITA) 1:19:37 50km walk: Aleksandr Potashov (URS) 3:53.09 4x100m relay: USA 37.50 4x400mrelay: GBR 2:57.53 WOMEN 100m: Katrin Krabbe (GER) 10.99 200m: Katrin Krabbe (GER) 22.09 400m: Marie-Jose Perec (FRA) 49.13 800m: Liliya Nurutdinova (URS) 1:57.50 1500m: Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) 4:02.21 3000m: Tatyana Dorovskikh…

There are few sporting sights as pleasing as Jonathan Edwards competing in the triple jump. In his heyday, he was the epitome of athleticism. A joy to watch, his lithe frame concealed huge amounts of strength and technical brilliance and he glided gracefully from one phase to another – in contrast to the crash, bang, wallop of many of his rivals. He was often compared to a stone skimming across water and such ability led to him setting the current world record of 18.29m, in addition to winning Olympic gold in Sydney. His record-breaking feat celebrated its 30th anniversary earlier this summer, while his Olympic victory took place 25 years ago this month – a silver anniversary of a gold-plated achievement. When it came to Sydney, it was a case…

COACHING CONVERSATIONS Helen Clitheroe is the head coach of Team New Balance Manchester and a former international athlete who represented Team GB at the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 (1500m) and Beijing 2008 (3000m steeplechase). Her championship experience is extensive and spans 16 years, from the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia to her final international track race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Podium highlights include European indoor 3000m gold in Paris 2011 and Commonwealth 1500m bronze in Manchester 2002. Clitheroe's current crop of athletes include Great Britain and Northern Ireland internationalists Hannah Nuttall and Elise Thorner, plus multiple Irish record-holder Andrew Coscoran. All three have been selected to compete at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. How did you first get into coaching? I did my first…

I can still vividly remember the 1991 World Athletics Championships, the last time the event was held in Tokyo. I was 10 years old, on a Eurocamp holiday in northern France, jumping up and down in front of a tiny TV with my brother as Kriss Akabusi burst past Antonio Pettigrew on the final straight in the 4x400m relay, lunging for the line to take gold. I can still hear the roar of the crowd, crammed in like a Tokyo rush-hour train on those steep banks of the old stadium as the two athletes charged into the closing stretch. I still remember the commentary: “Akabusi has a go! And the American is beaten!” (Which always felt a bit premature given how close the race was at that point.) I also…

It says much about how difficult the past year has been for Keely Hodgkinson that her feeling “like she'd been run over by a bus” was seen as being a positive thing. “She felt dreadful for a couple of days,” says the Olympic 800m champion's coach, Trevor Painter. “But then she trained again and, even though she wasn't feeling great, the numbers were really good, so we knew her body was okay.” There was good reason for this particular pain and suffering – it meant she was racing again. Painter is describing the immediate aftermath of Hodgkinson's first outing in over a year – 376 days to be precise – at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland on August 16. Having had to absorb and recover from three hamstring injury…

“I seem to get injured in World Championships years,” says Laura Muir with a rueful grin, allowing the thought to linger. She isn't wrong. In 2017, 2019 and 2022 there were fitness battles to be fought before the Olympic silver medallist took to the 1500m start line in London, Doha and Eugene respectively. There has been a similar script to follow in 2025, too, though this time it felt different – and not in a good way. “This was the worst injury I've had,” she says when referring to the torn calf muscle, with the damage extending into the Achilles, sustained during the early part of this year. “It's probably the longest period of time that I had had off of running since I started when I was 12.” With…

*Information correct at time of going to print MEN'S 100M Final: Sunday September 14 History maker: Usain Bolt JAM – three golds, one bronze Defending champion: Noah Lyles USA 9.83 Championships record: Usain Bolt JAM 9.58, 2009 Olympic champion: Lyles USA 9.79 World leader: Kishane Thompson JAM 9.75 The showpiece sprint looks like being another battle between the USA and Jamaica. ONES TO WATCH (outdoor 2025 bests in brackets) Noah Lyles USA (10.00) Made a slow start to his 2025 campaign over 100m but is still capable of winning his third consecutive major title at the distance. Kishane Thompson JAM (9.75) The Olympic silver medallist won the Jamaican trials in a PB 9.75, backed up by a 9.85 win at the Pre Classic and victory over Lyles in Silesia. Oblique Seville JAM (9.83) The serial…

Charlotte Henrich was riding high this summer after storming to second place in the British 400m at the London Diamond League – clocking a personal best in a competitive field. That was already a standout moment in itself but what could make the season even better? How about winning gold at the European U20 Championships – and doing it with another PB? That time of 51.68 didn't just secure her the top spot on the podium in Tampere, it also propelled the 19-year-old to second on the UK all-time under-20 list, just behind Yemi Mary John. Henrich came into the championships with high expectations and clear intent. After winning European under-18 gold in 2022, nothing less than first place was going to satisfy her – and she delivered exactly that.…

When Great Britain's para athletics team travels to New Delhi for the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships later this month (taking place from September 27-October 5), the squad will include athletes at just about every stage of their sporting careers. The 37-strong contingent includes Hollie Arnold, who is heading to her eighth world championships – an extraordinary feat in any discipline. At the other end of the experience scale is 19-year-old Bebe Jackson, who is preparing for her very first. For Arnold, receiving the call never gets old, and this time selection has in fact felt like a victory in itself. “I was at such a low place in my life,” she says. “I didn't know what the future held and if I'd get back into the sport.” After winning…

Japanese sport was born on the battlefield. For over 1000 years, the sons of Japan trained in archery, swordsmanship and early forms of martial arts. Physical activity was inseparable from the life of the warrior, from “the cradle to the grave”. While Japanese society had been shaped for centuries by the warrior ethos, the 1870s brought a new influence: Western sports, introduced by foreign educators during the country's rapid drive to modernise under Emperor Meiji. Among these imports, modern athletics – a distinctly British innovation – made its debut. The first formal athletics meeting took place at the Imperial Naval College in 1876, and soon school sports days (undōkai) introduced running, jumping and throwing to students across the nation. 1883 proved a noteworthy year, when the British schoolteacher Frederick W.…

The 2025 World Championships in Tokyo has a tough act to follow. Not only is Budapest two years ago considered to be one of the best ever but, when the global showpiece last came to the Japanese capital, in 1991, some of the most memorable moments in athletics history unfolded. As the athletes took to the stage 34 years ago, they did so for what was only the third edition of the World Championships, following on from Helsinki in 1983 and Rome in 1987. It was to be a pivotal time given that, from 1991 onwards, the championships were staged every two years rather than every four – a decision which didn't actually sit well with many athletes at the time who felt it would devalue the championships but is…

AGE: 35 COACH: TOMAŽ PLIBERŠEK Phil Norman successfully defended his British 3000m steeplechase title with victory at the UK Athletics Championships in August. The result itself was not particularly exceptional – he ran 8:40.47 to take the win ahead of Zak Seddon in second (8:40.69) – but after the disappointment of his non-selection for the 2024 Olympic Games and a return to full-time work, it was an immensely satisfying performance that brought to life the possibility of a return to the Alexander Stadium for the European Championships in 2026. The 35-year-old could have certainly been forgiven for sitting it out. His last outing in the 3000m steeplechase was an 8:18.65 lifetime best and championship record in Manchester in June 2024. It was the fastest performance by a British steeplechaser in…

After an uncertain start to the year, the hard work has paid off for Ben Pattison. Following knee and quad pain during winter training stints in both Flagstaff and Potchefstroom, the 2023 world 800m bronze medallist suffered a stress fracture in his femur, resulting in him being on crutches for a fortnight. But, such was his enthusiasm to get back to full fitness that, on top of aqua jogging, cycling and cross-training, the 28-year-old built a log cabin in his Loughborough back garden when he was injured. “That's now my new home set-up,” he says, reflecting on a tough period. “I got a cross-trainer from eBay for about £150. I've got a Zwift bike in there and a treadmill as well. My parents came up and helped me build it.…