Hollie Pearne-Webb has warned Great Britain’s rivals not to write off their chances of making it on to the podium at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Pearne-Webb won gold with Team GB in Rio in 2016 and captained them to bronze in Tokyo five years later, on both occasions against the odds.
Now the 33-year-old defender is targeting a third assault on the medals firm in the knowledge that they may have to do something unexpected once again.
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Pearne-Webb told the PA news agency: “Obviously I’ve been to the past two and been in a similar situation. It’s very similar to going into both Rio and Tokyo in terms of where we’re ranked, outsiders looking in.
“You probably wouldn’t expect us to be on the top of the podium when we get there, but I fully believe that we have the opportunity to be on top of the podium, just like I did going into Rio and just like I did going into Tokyo – and look what we did at both those Games.
“I’m really excited about the next few months.”
Britain, who will play in Pool B alongside Australia, Argentina, Spain, the United States and South Africa, open their campaign against Spain on July 28 having claimed the 12th and final qualification spot with a 2-1 victory over Ireland in January.
Pearne-Webb, who famously scored the winning goal in a final shoot-out victory over the Netherlands in Rio, is confident the nerve they displayed to edge their way to Paris will serve them well in the French capital.
“I always find Olympic qualification is more stressful than the Games themselves,” she said. “It’s been great preparation for us to be in those hugely pressurised moments of ‘It’s all or nothing’ in a game.
“We’ve experienced that now, we came through on the right side of it, thankfully, and that just puts a huge amount of confidence in the bank when we get to the Olympics this summer.”
Pearne-Webb’s comments came as she was unveiled as the chair of a new body which will give elite athletes a voice in the formation of sporting policies.
The Athlete Advisory Forum, a branch of the British Elite Athletes Association, will review proposals relating to matters such as coaching, culture, equality, diversity and inclusion, finances, representation, safeguarding, selection, social impact, support and welfare from organisations including UK Sport – which has made athlete input into policy development part of its response to the Whyte Review into allegations of abuse in gymnastics – and the BEAA itself.
Pearne-Webb is joined by fellow BEAA athlete board member and Olympic sprinter Asha Philip, former GB rower Alice Davies, para discus thrower Dan Greaves, bobsleigh Olympian Brad Hall, Scottish diver Grace Reid, men’s hockey keeper James Mazarelo, shooter Seonaid McIntosh, fencer Marcus Mepstead and retired sailor Kirstie Urwin.
“It’s a really good opportunity for something that’s across all sports, an opportunity for our voice to be heard,” Pearne-Webb said.
“We’re at a good place now, where there are many opportunities for us to have a say and give our opinions on various different things, so I think it’s a really good step in the right direction for what we need.”
Olympic silver medallist Colin Jackson is convinced this summer’s Paris Games could give rise to a “new generation” of household names in British athletics.
The decorated Welshman secured a silver medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1988 Games in Seoul and five years later won gold at the world championships with a world record time of 12.91 seconds that would stand for 11 years.
Jackson, 57, accepts his friend Usain Bolt’s now hung-up spikes might occupy an unfillable place in athletics, but feels the sport is more than ready for new superstars to emerge – an occurrence he believes is only possible at an Olympics.
He told the PA news agency: “If we have a successful team, which it’s believed to be, and we get five or six medals, if we achieve a ‘Super Saturday’ as we did in London 2012, that will be another kick-start, because that signifies a new generation.
“We won’t be looking at Jess (Ennis-Hill), Mo (Farah), Greg (Rutherford) any more. You’re looking at the next generation, touching distance for all up-and-coming athletes, and us pre-historic athletes will be happy to celebrate their success.”
Bolt stepped away from competition in 2017, nine years after the 2008 Beijing Games where he became the first man in history to win 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay golds in world record times in the same Olympics.
The “fastest man on earth” would go on to defend his 100m and 200m titles at an unprecedented two successive Games at London 2012 and Rio 2016, becoming box-office viewing and one of the most recognisable names in sport.
Jackson said: “When Usain [broke through], it happened at the Olympic Games, so when you break through you have to break through on that Olympic level.
“The World Championships are great, fantastic, yes, but it’s that dream of the Olympic Games that will make it come true.
“[Usain] is once in a lifetime, seriously. As an athlete and a person, I’ve known him for a long time and he’s just brilliant. His professionalism is up and beyond. He’s just magic.
“When you see somebody with the physical talent like that but [also] the rest of the attributes to be a global superstar, you’ve just got to tip your hat to him.”
Jackson believes Paris’ proximity and UK-friendly time zone, combined with – unlike the coronavirus-restricted Tokyo 2020 Games – full houses and weeks of “wall-to-wall athletics” across both the Olympic and Paralympic Games could catapult his sport back into the spotlight.
Take your pick of talent, from Zharnel Hughes – tipped by Bolt himself as a contender for 100m gold in Paris – world champion Josh Kerr hoping to upgrade his 1500m Tokyo bronze, 2024 world indoor pole-vaulting champion Molly Caudery or Commonwealth T38 100m champion Olivia Breen, who Jackson feels has “stepped up her game” since winning T38 long jump bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Jackson, now a regular commentator, has spent plenty of time around para athletes and saw his career take off alongside that of fellow Welsh athlete and prolific Paralympic champion Tanni Grey-Thompson.
Still, he admits it was not until he became the international sports director for the Wings for Life World Run, which raises funds for spinal cord injury research, that he truly began to appreciate some of the specific challenges those affected face, from difficulties regulating temperature to insufficient government support.
The event, backed by Allwyn in a three-year partnership, takes place on May 5 this year, with everyone departing at the same time – midday in the UK – regardless of time zone across the globe.
Anyone can take part in the event, which embraces walkers, wheelchair-users and anyone else looking to test themselves against an in-person or virtual ‘catcher car’, covering as much distance as they are able.
Jackson’s advice to participants feels just as poignant for the Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes poised for Paris.
“You should (always) be slightly disappointed,” he said. “Let me come back, work a little harder, just go a little bit further.
“Nothing is ever perfect, but excellence is good enough.”
Vita Heathcote and Chris Grube will be intent on extending a proud tradition after being confirmed as the latest additions to the British sailing team for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Heathcote and Grube will compete in the 470 class, which is making its debut as a mixed event having recently been the domain of three-time Olympic medallist Hannah Mills.
Mills teamed up with Saskia Clark to win silver and gold in the women’s category in 2012 and 2016 respectively before joining Eilidh McIntyre to retain her Olympic crown in 2020.
Heathcote, who will be the youngest sailor in the British team at the age of 22, said: “It gives me goosebumps knowing that I’m going to be a part of the biggest sporting spectacle on earth.
“The Olympics has always been the goal and the thing I project my inspiration and motivation towards, so selection is a box ticked on the way there.”
Grube, 39, will make his third appearance at the Games having previously competed in both 2016 and 2020 alongside Luke Patience.
Aside from Mills’ trio of successes, Team GB have also won four silver medals in the now-defunct men’s category since the 470 class was introduced to the Olympics in 1988.
Team GB chef de mission Mark England said: “Following their fantastic silver at the recent World Championships I am delighted to welcome Vita Heathcote and Chris Grube to Team GB for Paris 2024.”
The selection of Heathcote and Grube takes the size of the British sailing team for Paris to 13, with the inaugural men’s kite category still to be added.
Great Britain will play Canada, Finland and Argentina in the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals in Manchester in September.
Leon Smith’s side will hope for a less nail-biting conclusion than in the same city last year, when Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved match points to beat France in the deciding match in front of a jubilant record crowd, and the draw appears to have been relatively kind.
Canada, led by Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, were champions in 2022 but lack strength in depth.
Finland were last year’s surprise package, making it through to the semi-finals for the first time, while Argentina boast three top-30 players, but indoor hard courts should favour Britain.
The ties will take place at the AO Arena from September 10 to 15, with the top two teams progressing to November’s Final Eight event.
Having beaten France, Australia and Switzerland last year, Britain fell at the first hurdle in Malaga, losing out to Novak Djokovic’s Serbia.
Defending champions Italy will host a group in Bologna also featuring the Netherlands, Belgium and Brazil, while Australia, Czech Republic, France and Spain will contest a heavyweight Group B in Valencia.
The final group, containing Germany, USA, Slovakia and Chile, will take place in the Chinese city of Zhuhai.
Jessica Ennis became the first British woman to win indoor and outdoor world titles in athletics by taking pentathlon gold in Doha 14 years ago.
After triumphing at the 2009 World Championships outdoors seven months earlier, all eyes were on her as she attempted to back it up at the World Indoor Championships in Qatar.
The result was a new British, Commonwealth and championship record score of 4,937 points to finish above rivals Nataliya Dobrynska, Hyleas Fountain and Tatyana Chernova.
Ennis, who changed her surname to Ennis-Hill after marrying Andy Hill in 2013, won the 60 metres hurdles and high jump and took second place in the long jump and 800m to clinch a memorable victory.
The then 24-year-old, whose preparations had been disrupted by a foot injury, said: “I feel great to beat the three medallists from (the) Beijing (Olympics in 2008). It’s very special to win here and break the championship record.
“I had a great year in 2009 so everyone was expecting me to win.”
The Sheffield athlete finished second at the outdoor World Championships the following year but was promoted to first in 2016 after Chernova was disqualified for doping.
She then became one of the faces of London 2012 by winning Olympic gold on home soil.
She gave birth to son Reggie in 2014 but returned to the sport the following year and regained the world title before adding Olympic silver in Rio in 2016.
Ennis-Hill announced her retirement in October 2016 and was made a Dame in the 2017 New Year Honours.
Great Britain’s Phillips Idowu won gold in the triple jump at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, on this day in 2008.
The 29-year-old Londoner smashed Jonathan Edwards’ 10 year old British record and came within eight centimetres of the then world indoor record.
Sporting a designer red hairstyle, Idowu opened with a jump of 17.10m before going out to 17.75m with his second.
He matched his previous personal best of 17.56m in the third round and jumped 17.45m in the next before sitting out the fifth and fouling with his final attempt.
By that point he had already done enough to see off the challenge of former world junior champion David Giralt and the previous year’s world outdoor gold medallist Nelson Evora.
Idowu was presented with his medal by former world and Olympic champion Edwards.
He said: “I knew it was going to be hard beforehand, so I kept on going.
“I wanted to see what sort of shape I was in after four or five months of hard winter work – and obviously it’s a very good one.”
UK Sport has outlined ambitions for the United Kingdom to host its first FIFA Women’s World Cup in the 2030s.
The global showpiece is the biggest sporting event the UK has never held, and one of several new additions to the funding body’s latest list of major event hosting targets alongside a World Athletics Championship in 2029 or 2031 and a men’s Rugby World Cup in 2035 or 2039.
The target list comprises 70 events – including 18 world championships – across 32 sports taking place between 2024 and 2040, and while inclusion on the list is just the first of a number of steps before a decision to bid is made, it marks another move forward.
Esther Britten, head of major events at UK Sport, said: “If we had this list without [the Women’s World Cup] on we’d all be saying, ‘Why is it not on it?’. We want to explore this meaningfully in the 2030s and make the right decision about which iteration of the Women’s World Cup is one to go for.
“The environment that we land any of these women’s sports events in is one where we have athletes that are getting increasing cut-through, that are championing their sports, that are speaking out for their sports, and we have increasingly an environment where we have people who want to go and watch these sports.
“That’s why it should be on our list for consideration, but choosing the right time will be (about) the wider international relations factors.”
Every event is subject to a feasibility evaluation which considers factors such as chances of success, venue selection, bid process, financial contributions and costs, as well as the social impact potential.
Such a study would be the next step for the Women’s World Cup, which is currently on the list as an “opportunity” alongside a potential men’s Rugby World Cup.
Simon Morton, UK Sport’s deputy CEO, said it is likely stakeholders would gather after the 2027 Women’s World Cup hosts are announced at the 74th FIFA congress in May 2024.
A joint bid from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands is being considered alongside one from Brazil, while the United States and Mexico have also put themselves forward as co-hosts, while the 2031 hosts will be confirmed in 2025.
Morton said the 2027 host selection may help narrow down which of the next decade’s three Women’s World Cups could give the UK the best chance, while also needing to factor in the Lionesses’ prospects of success in each of those years.
“We have to respect the fact that there are other countries interested in hosting them, so the sort of political dynamics across international federations, in terms of where these events might go, is something that’s outside of our control,” he said. “So that’s why you see a little bit of an open-ended position.
“There’s definitely an aspiration to host the Women’s World Cup in the 2030s, but we need to see who FIFA will go with for that (2027) tournament.
“I haven’t met anyone who thinks that going for the Women’s World Cup is a bad idea, and I think most people would want it to happen as soon as possible, but we’re open-minded about when it might be in the 2030s.”
UK Sport is also exploring the possibility of establishing a new central body to help deliver events where sports and cities are unable to do so.
The Women’s World Cup is one of several events on the list that would also require government funding. Events can move into the feasibility study phase regardless of which political party is in power, but decision-making about investment will need to be taken by ministers.
Despite this being an election year, Morton was optimistic about securing support for major events no matter who the Prime Minister is by the end of 2024.
“I think politicians have a timeless understanding of the power of these events,” he said. “I don’t think the importance of live sport to this country, in particular, and to the people and communities of this country, is going to change, irrespective of who is in power.”
Every event on the list is either multi-gender or, where a men’s edition has been included, so has the women’s counterpart, with the 2031 or 2035 Ryder Cups also newly included having reached the live feasibility study phase, alongside the 2029 or 2031 World Athletics Championships and five other events.
Eilish McColgan believes she has a chance of winning a medal at the Paris Olympics as she looks to bounce back from a challenging 2023.
The Scottish distance runner was forced to miss the London Marathon with a knee injury suffered in training, which also kept her out of the World Championships in Budapest.
She is also grieving the sudden death of her stepdad John Nuttall in November but is stepping up her recovery and hopes to do enough to be on Team GB’s plane to France in the summer.
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The 33-year-old says adding a gold medal to her 2022 Commonwealth Games title is “outside my realm” but believes she can get on the podium.
Asked by the PA news agency if she is confident she will be in Paris, she said: “I would like to think so. I am professional athlete so I am always going to back myself.
“I have come back from a hell of a lot worse than this. So I am still here and I still think that even though I had a challenging 2023 I still think I have the capabilities of making the team.
“I have the qualifying time so that is the hardest part out of the way so I just need to show I am not injured and I am on the right path towards the Olympics. I feel confident.
“I am not sure how realistic a medal is at this point, making the team will be a big enough challenge at this point considering the amount of time I have been off and coming from where I have been but I would never write myself off.
“I need to get into the same shape that I got into last March and April then I will definitely be setting my sights on sneaking an outside medal.
“Winning might be outside my realm but there’s no reason I can’t be looking for one of those outside medals but I have to get myself back into shape.”
Nuttall, a former Commonwealth Games medallist, died from a heart attack before Christmas and McColgan wants to make her family, especially her mum Liz, proud.
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“I feel like I have had some tough times so I need to try and turn it around and make it worthwhile,” she aded.
“And also make my family proud, after what we have all gone through it would be a nice way to round off 2024, making my fourth Olympic Games.
“I would be the first Scottish athlete to do that so that is a big goal.”
Much will depend on McColgan’s training over the next few months, something which the Scot places a lot of importance on.
Often training on her own and in unfamiliar places, McColgan is able to feel safe by using Shokz headphones.
“I have been wearing them for several years, for me it is really important to be able to hear surrounding sounds whilst I am training,” she said.
“Certainly if I am on my own, going for runs in the evening, or in woodland areas or places I haven’t been before, it just gives me a little bit of added safety, being able to hear what’s around me.
“That is important for me. I enjoy running with music so I suppose it is good to have that motivation but at the same time it is not completely in my ear.”
:: Eilish McColgan is an ambassador for leading electronics brand, Shokz (uk.shokz.com)
Great Britain is in the running to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, according to UK Athletics chief executive Jack Buckner.
The last time the event was staged in the UK was in London in 2017, while Glasgow hosted the World Indoor Championships at the weekend.
Now Buckner has told BBC Sport that UK Sport and UK Athletics are conducting a feasibility study into launching a bid to stage the 2029 event.
“We’d love to have another crack at 2029 and a World Championships,” said Buckner.
“We just do a great job. Everyone talks about the atmosphere at every event we’ve done.
“We first of all have to do a feasibility study and look at what the various options are.”
Buckner indicated that London would be the favoured venue for the event, in light of the successful staging of both the 2017 event and the 2012 Olympics.
“We can’t definitely say it’ll be London, but it would be in our mind given the success of it before,” Buckner added.
“I think London (2017) was transformational and it built off 2012 (the Olympic Games). It was transformational in all sorts of ways.”
Great Britain set a new national record as they qualified for the final of the 4×400 metre relay at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Lina Nielsen, Ama Pipi, Hannah Kelly and Jessie Knight won their heat in three minutes, 26.4 seconds in Glasgow.
They finished almost a second ahead of Jamaica, with the Czech Republic third.
“I love this track,” anchor leg Knight told the BBC. “I’m not the best at getting out in the first 200 but I really tried, and not overcooking it as well.
“I’m really happy with that. I felt strong at the end and we’re really excited for the final. We’re going for the win as always.”
The Netherlands, favourites for the gold medal, qualified from the first heat in 3min 27.70sec.
Josh Kerr ended Scotland’s 31-year wait for a world indoor title and did so on home turf as he stormed to 3,000 metres gold in Glasgow.
Kerr powered away on the final lap to win comfortably in seven minutes 42.98 seconds, with defending champion Selemon Barega fading down the final straight as he was beaten to silver by American Yared Nuguse.
After disappointment for Laura Muir in the women’s 3,000m final earlier in the evening, Kerr’s victory sparked huge celebrations in the Emirates Arena.
“I think I burned more energy celebrating than I did in the race, which is a bit embarrassing,” Kerr, the world 1500m champion outdoors, said on BBC Sport. “This competition is so important.
“I’ve come to championships before not ready to have a real go at it and I feel I’ve let the UK audience down a bit in the way I’ve performed in front of them. It was really important to come here fit and ready to go and really execute.
“I came in without a solid plan, just really fluid. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t acting emotionally.
“I kept a patient head and then I could really send it with 400 metres to go.”
Muir set a season’s best time of 8mins 29.76secs, but that was only good enough for fifth as American Elle St Pierre took the win ahead of Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.
St Pierre’s time of 8:20.87 was a World Indoor Championships record.
Jemma Reekie delighted her home crowd by cruising into the final of the women’s 800m with a “perfect” performance.
The 25-year-old Scot bided her time in second spot before passing Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu on the final straight to win heat two in commanding fashion in a time of 1:58.28.
World number five Reekie progresses to Sunday’s medal race as the fastest qualifier across the two semi-finals and had a warning for her podium rivals.
She told BBC Sport: “(It was) perfect planning – you’d think Jon (Bigg, her coach) knew a bit about this sport by now. (It was) really good.
“I’m in really good shape. Obviously the final’s going to be really tough, but I want them to know if they’re coming to win on my track they’re going to have to work hard.
“I think it will be a fast one.”
At 19 years and 26 days, Italy’s Mattia Furlani became the youngest long jump medallist in World Indoor Championships history by claiming silver in the men’s event with a leap of 8.22m.
The teenager missed out on the title – to Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou – only on countback, with bronze going to Carey McLeod of Jamaica (8.21m).
Britain’s David King qualified for the semi-finals of the men’s 60m hurdles after clocking 7.64 but compatriot Tade Ojora failed to make the cut in his heat.
Amy Hunt fell short in the women’s 60m, finishing fifth in her heat in a time of 7.29.
Jemma Reekie delighted her home crowd in Glasgow by cruising into the final of the women’s 800 metres with a “perfect” performance at the World Indoor Championships.
The 25-year-old Scot bided her time in second spot before passing Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu on the final straight to win heat two in commanding fashion in a time of one minute 58.28 seconds.
World number five Reekie progresses to Sunday’s medal race as the fastest qualifier across the two semi-finals and had a warning for her podium rivals.
She told BBC Sport: “(It was) perfect planning – you’d think Jon (Bigg, her coach) knew a bit about this sport by now! (It was) really good.
“I’m in really good shape. Obviously the final’s going to be really tough but I want them to know if they’re coming to win on my track they’re going to have to work hard.
“I think it will be a fast one.”
Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson claimed her first global title on this day in 2018, winning the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
The then 25-year-old finished 50 points ahead of Austria’s Ivona Dadic and 113 in front of Cuba’s Yorgelis Rodriguez to take victory with 4750 points.
It ended a series of disappointments in heptathlon after she finished fifth at the 2017 World Championships in London, sixth at the Rio 2016 Olympics and 28th at the World Championships in Beijing the year before that.
Johnson-Thompson said: “I am so happy. I have a busy year and this gives me confidence and belief going to the Commonwealth Games (in Gold Coast that April) that I can compete at a certain level and come away with a medal and not screw it up.
“It means the world. It is something I have been trying to do since 2012 when I stepped onto the international scene.
“I was disappointed last year I wasn’t able to do it outdoors.
“After the last couple of years I have had, there was no pressure on me because I have not done too well.
“I am just happy that I can kick start this year as a gold medallist.”
Johnson-Thompson went on in 2018 to claim gold for England at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and silver at the European Championships in Berlin.
She has since secured world heptathlon titles in 2019 in Doha and 2023 in Budapest, while she retained her Commonwealth title in Birmingham in 2022.
Sky Brown’s Olympic surfing dream was wiped out after she failed to qualify for Paris 2024 at the ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico.
The 15-year-old was hoping to represent Team GB in both surfing and skateboarding at this summer’s Games in the French capital.
But her quest for qualification in the former was extinguished by a third-placed finish in the sixth repechage on Friday, behind 14-year-old Chinese surfer Yang Siqi and Janire Gonzalez-Etxabarri of Spain.
She registered scores of 4.53 and 4.33 from her two best attempts for a combined total of 8.86 in the waters off Arecibo.
Fellow teenager Yang won the heat with 11.83 points, while Gonzalez-Etxabarri posted 11.43 to secure her place in Paris.
Brown is the reigning world champion in park skateboarding, but is greener on the elite surfing circuit.
The Japan-born athlete, who aged 13 won park skateboard bronze in the sport’s debut at Tokyo 2020, recently said it “would mean the world” to be an Olympian in both sports.
Sir Jason Kenny announced his retirement from a glittering racing career to move into coaching on this day in 2022.
Great Britain’s greatest Olympian with seven gold medals to his name, Kenny admitted to being “a little bit sad” as he called time on a phase of his life which had made him a household name.
The then 33-year-old, who had won a stunning keirin gold in Tokyo during the previous summer to claim a seventh Olympic title 13 years after his first in Beijing, had been planning to keep going until the Paris Games in 2024.
However, he admitted the opportunity to coach the British squad was one he could not pass up.
Kenny said: “It wasn’t an easy decision. I genuinely wanted to carry on to Paris, but I creak quite a lot these days and I always knew I wanted to go into coaching off the back of it, and this opportunity came along.
“I am a little bit sad, to be honest, because all I’ve known is riding and competing, but I’m quite excited to get stuck into the job.”
Kenny replaced Scott Pollock, who had served as sprint coach in an interim role following the dismissal of Kevin Stewart in November 2020.
He had retired once before, silently stepping away after winning team sprint, individual sprint and keirin gold at the 2016 Rio Games, without announcing his decision until he reversed it a year later.
Kenny said: “Last time, I didn’t realise it, but I was just cooked. I’d never really taken a break [in 10 years], so I just stepped away. Because I never planned on coming back, I completely switched off and got that re-fresh.
“In Rio, I was quite happy to see the back of it. But then since coming back and being refreshed, it’s a lot harder to walk away.”
Kenny was knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours List, while his wife and fellow cyclist Laura – formerly Trott – received a damehood after establishing herself as Britain’s most decorated female Olympian with five golds.
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