Latest news with #WorldMastersAthleticsChampionships
South China Morning Post
08-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Why Hong Kong could see boom in athletics for veterans who want to keep on competing
Hong Kong's community of 'masters' athletes has been tipped to grow after the city brought home bagfuls of medals from the past two global championships. Advertisement And Colin Whittington, chairman of the Athletics Veterans of Hong Kong, predicted that the numbers of these veterans will only continue to rise as the public becomes more aware of the need to stay fit and healthy as they get older. Whittington also expected to see the city sending a large team to the next World Masters Athletics Championships (WMAC) in Daegu next year. WMAC are the biennial championships for masters athletics – aged 35 or above – which is divided into five-year age groups. For example, the M35 group is for male athletes aged 35 to 39 years while the W40 group is for female athletes between the ages of 40 and 44, and so on. At the latest indoor edition in Gainesville, Florida last month, four Hongkongers – Aldo Kriel, Max Siu Yau-ming, Grace Tong and Ivy Mok Oi-yee – competed, and returned with three medals. Advertisement Siu pocketed bronze in the men's triple jump (70-74) with a 9.48-metre jump while Kriel added two more bronze medals in the men's 45-to-49 group, crossing the finish line in 23.68 seconds in the 200m and recording a 6.05m leap in the long jump.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
Emotions run high as power outage shuts London's Heathrow
A police helicopter was the only vehicle visible in the sky above Heathrow airport on Friday, as the regular drone of flights went silent after a fire at a power station shuttered Europe's busiest airport. On the ground, dozens of confused, stranded passengers stood around with their suitcases outside airport hotels. Many who AFP spoke to complained about the cost of shifting their bookings and a lack of information from Heathrow or airlines. For veteran athlete Kevin Dillon, 70, Heathrow's day-long closure meant he would miss the opening ceremony of the World Masters Athletics Championships in Florida. The runner, sporting a Great Britain tracksuit, said he had come from Manchester to catch his flight so he could compete. The authorities are facing questions over how the fire at the electricity substation left such a crucial piece of national infrastructure closed for the day. "I'm just surprised they didn't have a backup system," Dillon said. Jake Johnston, from Los Angeles, was set to travel back to the United States on Friday but his airline, Virgin Atlantic, has rebooked his flight for Monday. The 24-year-old said he and his friends were lucky: they found hotels for around £150 a night ($194). Since then, several passengers have complained of airport hotels jacking up prices. According to Johnston, when he checked again later, hotel prices had risen to around £600. - 'Need to be there' - Bolaji N'gowe was not so optimistic. He was on his way home to Canada after visiting his mother in Lagos, Nigeria, when his flight was diverted from Heathrow to Gatwick airport, south of London. "I have been in Gatwick since 4:00 am (0400 GMT)," he told AFP at the UK's second-busiest airport, which accepted some flights bound for Heathrow, while others were diverted to Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt and other European cities. "I'm trying to book another flight... I'm trying to call Air Canada, no one is answering the phone," said N'gowe, adding that the earliest flight he had found was for Sunday. "Between the ticket and the hotel, I have to spend more that £1,500," he added. Talia Fokaides was meant to leave London for Athens in the morning to be with her mother, who was due to undergo open-heart surgery. When she heard Heathrow was closed, she rushed to Gatwick and found a flight to the Greek capital for midday. "I don't care about the money, I just need to be on a flight and home by the end of the day," Fokaides told AFP, her voice shaking with emotion. "We were given no info, we were left on our own. I don't understand how it's possible," she added. "I just need to be there." Some 1,350 flights had been due to land or take off from Heathrow and its five terminals on Friday, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24. Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports and usually handles around 230,000 passengers daily and 83 million every year. - 'Powerless' - Mohammed al-Laib, a Tunisian national who works in London, was supposed to go to Dubai to be reunited with his wife, whom he had not seen in months. Heading to the information desk at Gatwick, he said he did not know if another flight would be available. "I feel powerless," he said. Meanwhile, 28-year-old Muhammad Khalil had been waiting at London's Paddington station since early morning looking for alternative flights to Pakistan. He had so far been unsuccessful, with Heathrow the main airport in the UK for long-haul international flights. Khalil had also hoped to be reunited with his wife after five months. He had been planning the trip for three months. "I've spent so much money on tickets and everything. I had to take the day off from my job," Khalil told AFP. "You can't imagine how stressful it is for me." Callum Burton, 21, from Kent in southern England, was stranded at Newark airport near New York after visiting his girlfriend for his 21st birthday. Burton told AFP via social media that his flight had boarded and was ready to depart before it was rescheduled for 15 hours later, then cancelled. He was not expecting to leave until Sunday or Monday, and said that he was "very tired and disappointed". video-adm-aks/lcm/jhb
BBC News
14-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sheffield runner who gave up sport at school is world champion
A retired teacher who gave up running for decades when she was humiliated in a school cross-country race wants to inspire other older people to take up the sport after she became a world Kesterton, from Sheffield, won gold in the 10k at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Finland three years ago with a time of 47: 72-year-old is one of seven Masters athletes who have represented their country training at her club, Virtual Harriers in Clay said runners her age needed to channel their "inner child" and remember what it was like to run around in the school playground. Mrs Kesterton said she had been "distraught" when she was publicly disqualified from the junior cross-country event in her was more than 40 years before she returned to the sport when she was persuaded to run with other said it had been "beyond my wildest dreams" to win the World Masters title in 2022."Try and run without smiling, because it can't be done - and if you're smiling when you run, you know it's good for you." Her achievements are all the more impressive given that she has recovered from breast cancer and has maintained the times she recorded a decade coach John Rothwell, who is himself 70, described her as an "inspiration"."She makes me actually want to dig deeper and do more work and learn more and I learn a heck of a lot from Dot. Dot is very driven." Mr Rothwell said he believed bringing together like-minded runners who push each other brought out the best from his athletes."Dot is always happy to encourage others, even her rivals." Mrs Kesterton is heading to the European Masters Championships in October and has entered the cross-country, 10k and half-marathon events."I'll be running forever; as long as I'm allowed, I shan't be giving up." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
