Results tagged “athletics”

Long jumper Chris Tomlinson is taking a leap into the unknown this year - and not just at the Olympics.

The British record holder is aiming for a first medal at the Games this summer but he's also gearing up for the challenge of the birth of his first child. It means a busy year for the Newham & Essex Beagles athlete.

World and European 5,000m champion Mo Farah will replicate his successful preparations of 2011 as he builds up his bid for Olympic glory.

The Newham & Essex Beagles athlete, who is now based in the United States, will start his 2012 build-up with indoor runs at the Aviva Grand Prix events in Glasgow and Birmingham.

The future of the Olympic Stadium should be known by next May with bids from interested parties being invited from today.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company is seeking tenants to use the Stadium, which will be reduced to 60,000 seats after next year's Games, for a range of sporting, cultural and commercial events.

The Olympic Stadium will be used to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships after London was selected to host the event today.

London was chosen ahead of Doha for the spectacular, the first time the Championships have been held in Britain, delighting the UK's athletics supporters and the organisers of the 2012 Games.

Mo Farah is on top of the world after claiming the 5,000m title at the World Athletics Championships with a superb performance.

But the Newham Beagles athlete is not getting carried away about his chances of a repeat at next year's Olympics in London despite his meteoric rise to the pinnacle of the sport.

Newham & Essex Beagle's Chris Tomlinson endured the agony of failure and injury this afternoon as he finished 11th in the World Athletics Championships long jump final.

Tomlinson was hampered by a knee injury and failed to make it through to the second round of the competition in Daegu after producing a best jump of 7.87m.

Newham athlete Chris Tomlinson has qualified for the long jump final at the World Championships in Daegu - but only just.

Tomlinson, with his knee heavily strapped, managed a best effort of 8.02m this morning, edging out American Marquise Goodman - who also jumped that distance - on a better series of jumps.

Tower Hamlets athlete Perri Shakes Drayton missed qualification for the 400m hurdles final by just one hundredth of a second at the World Athletics Championships.

Shakes Drayton clocked 55.07 seconds in finishing third in her semi-final this morning, only to be pipped as a fastest loser by Ukrainian Anastasya Rabchenyuk, who ran 55.06 secs.

Britain's elite athletes head off to South Korea later this month for the last major competition before next year's Olympic Games.

Among the East London athletes competing is new British long jump record holder Chris Tomlinson. He set a new British mark of 8.35m last month, and the Newham & Essex Beagles star feels he is in the form of his life.

Andy Turner had a golden year in 2010 but he knows his biggest tests will come over the next 12 months or so.

Turner, 30, won the European and Commonwealth 110m hurdles titles last year and now has his sights set on World Championship success in Daegu next month, followed by Olympic glory in London next year.

West Ham could be set for a bit of retail therapy to help their move to the Olympic Stadium.

The Irons are reported to be in discussions with Westfield over a £20million sponsorship deal to help transform the venue into a football ground after the 2012 Games, and it could mean retractable seating being installed on the running track.

"If you get things right for the athletes, you're probably going to get it right for everybody."

Former Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards is in no doubt that making sure London 2012 is stress-free for the competitors will guarantee spectators will have a memorable experience when the greatest show on earth rolls into town.

The Virgin London Marathon takes place on Sunday and it's unlikely the race winner will be competing for just the second time at the distance.

But that was exactly the case for Charlie Spedding when he won in 1984. The former track runner had already won his first attempt at the distance, in Houston.

Following her unexpected departure from Newham Sports Academy, Tessa Sanderson has spoken out about her concerns that London 2012 will not leave an athletics legacy.

Sanderson, who lost the funding for her academy from Newham Council just a year before the Games, made her views known in an interview with BBC today.

David Bedford has resigned as director of the London Olympic marathon.

Bedford, who is also race director of the London Marathon, has revealed he is stepping down from his 2012 role because the Games' organising committee refused to listen to his advice, particularly in relation to next month's test event.

To most of us the Olympic Games is all about the glory as medals are won and records are broken.

But for the athletes vying for the most coveted crown in sport, the journey to the top of the podium is usually a long and arduous one. Christine Ohuruogu knows that journey well, having claimed 400m gold in Beijing in 2008.

The Government and the Mayor of London have approved plans for West Ham to move into the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.

The decision was not unexpected, with the Irons being named as preferred tenants by the Olympic Park Legacy Company three weeks ago, when they saw off a rival bid from Tottenham Hotspur.

The decision on who will be the future Olympic Stadium tenants will be made tomorrow, according to the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

There has been speculation that West Ham have already won the bid ahead of rivals Tottenham, but the OPLC have confirmed that the preferred bidder will not be decided until a vote when the board meets on Friday.

Perri Shakes Drayton has added her voice to the campaign for West Ham to be allowed to take over the 2012 Olympic Stadium.

With the decision on who will be the stadium's main tenant due to be made, Tower Hamlets' runner Shakes Drayton is adamant the running track must be kept in place to secure the venue's athletics' legacy.

The decision not to run the 2012 Olympic marathon through east London is the right one according to former international athlete Steve Cram.

The 1983 World 1,500m champion thinks the London Organising Committee have made the right choice to stage the marathon on a looped course around central London.