Latest news with #BritishAthletics
South China Morning Post
08-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong perfect base for Team GB athletes as they embark on World Championships quest
Team GB Olympic medallist Toby Harries has said that Hong Kong provided the perfect setting to prepare for this weekend's World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou. Advertisement Harries is embarking on the second phase of his career, having switched last year to running the 400 metres after considering quitting because he felt 'down and out' after a period of stagnation in the 200m. He documented his bid to qualify for Great Britain's 2024 Olympics 4x400m men's team for more than 20,000 social media followers, who saw Harries' mission end with a hard-earned bronze medal. 'I'd been working for 10 years with nothing to show for it,' said Harries, who had overcome tearing his hamstring off the bone, as well as about 20 other tears, at the outset of his career. 'If I was going to fail aiming for the biggest event in the world, I wanted to show people you should never give up.' Toby Harries said he 'would be England level now' had he stuck to rugby. Photo: British Athletics He went to Paris following injury and illness, and, while the mixed-relay event was happening, Harries was in the warm-up area 'doing my own Olympic final' for the men's quartet.
The Independent
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson to make injury return at London Diamond League this summer
Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson will make her return from injury to take part in this summer's London Diamond League meet. Hodgkinson has fond memories at the event, having set an 800m British record of 1:54.61 last year at the London Stadium before she went on to claim gold at the Olympics in Paris. The 23-year-old, who has been recovering from a hamstring tear sustained in February, said in a statement from British Athletics: 'I remember after last year's race thinking 'can we do that all over again?' 'It was such a dream to compete in the (London) Olympic stadium and I'm so excited to get back out there and see what I can do. For me, that race really set me up for what I did in Paris. 'I'm now an Olympic champion which is a pretty amazing thing to say out loud, but I still haven't won world gold, so I have really big goals this summer. 'Having that crowd behind me in London, plus a bunch of super-quick ladies to race against, will be the best possible preparation as I build towards the World Championships in Tokyo.' London's latest Diamond League rendition takes place on July 19, where she will hope to get into good stead ahead of the World Championships, which start on September 13. Hodgkinson, who also took Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020, has two world silver medals to her name and will be eager to top the podium on her return to the Japanese capital.
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Sadiq Khan backs London bid for 2040 Olympic Games as mayor pledges to make city 'the sporting capital of the world'
Sadiq Khan wants London to host the 2040 Olympic Games as part of his quest to make the city 'the sporting capital of the world'. London 2012 proved to be a monumental success and Khan, Mayor of London since 2016, is determined to bring the Games back to the UK. The Olympics were held in London in 1908, 1948 and 2012 and hosting the Games for a fourth time would be a record. The 2040 Olympic mission is part of a strategy aimed at boosting the economy by bringing a series of sporting competition to these shores. A report published by the Mayor of London's office on Monday revealed that the staging of six events last year, including the Champions League final at Wembley and the London Athletics Meet, as well as regular-season NFL and Major League Baseball games, generated £230million for the capital. It also attracted almost 500,000 sports fans to the city, with more than 200 million viewers tuning in across the globe. Khan also intends to join forces with British Athletics and UK Sport to submit a proposal to host the World Athletics Championship in 2029. The Championships could be worth as much as £400m to London and provide the perfect springboard for the Olympic bid. England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have already been confirmed as hosts for Euro 2028, while the 2035 Women's World Cup will also land on these shores. London will also host the Women's Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham this year, which is expected to attract a world-record crowd for a single full-sided women's rugby event. And Khan said he will hold meetings with the government 'in the near future' to discuss a bid for London to host the 2040 Olympics. LA and Brisbane are hosts for the 2028 and 2032 Games while India is the favourite destination for 2036. 'I was in Paris last summer and I saw the transformation of their city,' Khan told the Times. 'But we could knock it out of the park in relation to the Olympics, using the assets we already have in the Aquatics Centre, the stadium, the Velodrome. 'And we could have some events outside of London, too. London could be a hub. 'When it comes to major sports events, the public and governments are not unreasonably nervous about a huge amount of money being spent on infrastructure. 'But the reason why 2040 makes sense for London is because we could do it in a brilliant way but also very cheaply. 'An Olympics in London wouldn't cost a fortune but the benefits would be humongous.' Officials at the Mayor of London's Office are also ambitiously targeting the Superbowl. The staging of American sports in London has proved hugely lucrative according to the report created by Think Beyond. US Sports events have generated an 'estimated spectator spend of over £600million' since the first NFL London games in 2007, with more than three million fans attending in that time. The Super Bowl will be held in California in February 2026 and 2027 and the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, is the location for 2028. But there is a gap from 2029 onwards and the five-hour time difference to the East Coast of the US should not present an insurmountable challenge. Howard Dawber, London's Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth, told The Sun: 'If they were ever going to host it outside the US, we're already the obvious place to do it. 'What I would say is the Mayor has made it clear that it's a long-term ambition. It's something we would like to do. And you know, there's conversations. 'With the NFL looking to promote itself globally, having a Super Bowl outside of the US, in a location that's more accessible to a lot of its core fanbase in western Europe, that makes a lot of sense for them as well.' The London Mayor's financial commitment to sport would have pricked up ears at Chelsea Football Club. The Blues' owners are considering either redeveloping their existing stadium at Stamford Bridge or purchasing a site at Earl's Court to build a new home. The latter would require consultation with the mayor's office and Khan is open to starting some form of dialogue with the Premier League club. 'My message to Chelsea is come and speak to us in relation to what you want to do,' Khan told the Times. 'Chelsea are the victims of their success, and Stamford Bridge is now too small for them. After all, this is a team that has twice won the Champions League. 'We work closely with all seven of our Premier League clubs but I'm sure Chelsea look with some envy at the stadiums some of their rivals in London have. 'We're really keen to make sure that Chelsea, as we are with all our clubs, continue to flourish and thrive, so we're open to talking to Chelsea about what plans they have. At the moment they've not approached us. But we're here.'
Metro
28-04-2025
- Business
- Metro
Sadiq Khan outlines plan for London to host 'brilliant' and 'cheap' Olympics
Sadiq Khan wants London to bid for the 2040 Olympics and insists the capital can host the Games 'brilliantly' and 'very cheaply'. London 2012 proved to be a monumental success and Khan, Mayor of London since 2016, is determined to bring the Games back to the English capital. If successful, London would become the first city to host the Olympics four times. In an interview with The Times, Khan set out his plan to make London the 'sporting capital of the world' and highlighted the economic benefits of staging major sports events. A new report published by the Mayor of London's office says £230m was generated for the capital after London staged six high-profile events last year, including the Champions League final. Khan intends to join forces with British Athletics and UK Sport to submit a proposal to host the World Athletics Championship in 2029. England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales has already been confirmed as hosts for Euro 2028, while the 2035 Women's World Cup will all land on these shores. But Khan has said he will hold meetings with the government 'in the near future' to discuss a bid for London to host the 2040 Olympics. 'I was in Paris last summer [for the 2024 Olympics] and I saw the transformation of their city,' Khan said. 'But we could knock it out of the park in relation to the Olympics, using the assets we already have in the aquatics centre, the stadium, the velodrome. We could have some events outside of London too. London could be a hub. 'When it comes to major sports events, the public and governments are not unreasonably nervous about a huge amount of money being spent on infrastructure. 'But the reason why 2040 makes sense for London is because we could do it in a brilliant way but also very cheaply. 'An Olympics in London wouldn't cost a fortune, but the benefits would be humongous.' Discussing the report produced by the Mayor's office, Khan added: 'I'm somebody who loves sport, and I see the benefit of watching it. 'But what I thought we'd do is commission a report to work out the economic impact sport has. 'My ambition has always been for London to be the sporting capital of the world, and then to consolidate our position. What this report does is quantify the economic dividend we receive More Trending 'I would like to see London become the first city to host the Games four times. 'I'll be meeting the secretary in the near future. I'll be raising this in a constructive way. The government, not unreasonably, is obsessed with growth. 'This report confirms that sport can bring huge dividends to our country; the soft power of London on a global stage. And it also brings joy and inspires the next generation.' More to follow… MORE: Man charged with murder after 38-year-old found stabbed to death on driveway in south west London MORE: 'Double bagging' is rife on London's tube network and commuters are livid MORE: Protesters wrestled to ground and arrested after disrupting London Marathon with red paint
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How do I get a place in the London marathon?
There are several different ways to get on the London Marathon start line next year:The ballotCharity entryGood for Age placeA tour operatorA running clubThe race will take place on Sunday, 26 April 2026.A record-breaking total of more than 56,000 people are expected to take part in the 2025 race, and Hugh Brasher - chief executive of London Marathon Events - hopes it will keep told BBC Sport: "We don't want to disappoint people. We know we can grow the event further. But what we do is do these things in stages." How does the ballot work? The public ballot for the 2026 London Marathon opened on Friday, 25 April 2025, and will close on Friday, 2 May can apply to enter,, external and the successful applicants are chosen through a random results of the ballot will be announced by email in doesn't cost anything to enter the ballot, but if you are successful you will need to pay the entry fee of £ you choose to donate your fee to the London Marathon Foundation at the point of entry, it's £ who donate their fee will be entered into a second ballot, if unsuccessful in the is the most popular marathon in the world, and more than 840,000 people applied to run the 2025 race through the public 17,000 and 20,000 are usually successful each year. A charity entry Each year, most major charities are given a set number of entry places through different allocate these places to runners who - in return - agree to raise a minimum amount of money for that can look through the registered charities here, external and contact them directly to see if they can offer a place. Good for Age place A Good for Age place is available to runners who have qualified through running a full marathon with a relevant qualifying time, during a set qualifying period for Good For Age places for the 2025 London Marathon began on 1 October 2023 and ended on 30 September for Age places are available for UK citizens only. A tour operator For those who live outside of the UK, they can qualify through recognised international tour operators on the London Marathon website. Through running clubs Athletics clubs associated with British Athletics may be eligible for club-guaranteed number of entries allocated is based on the number of first-claim members (a runner's primary club) over the age of 18 at the club registered with British Athletics. More questions answered... What is Couch to 5k and how do I start?Q&A: Couch to 5kHow does BBC report on big stories about itself?Who decides the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist? What questions would you ask? We're looking for your questions for the Ask Me Anything team. Post them in the comments section and we'll look to answer the best of them in the future.
