Local stars part of London’s new-look World Cup
Top South African athletes will participate in a new World Cup event in London in July.
The meeting would feature eight leading athletics nations and was intended to attract a wider audience, British Athletics said on Monday.
Britain and the US will compete with SA, Poland, France, China, Germany and Jamaica in the inaugural World Cup from July 14 to 15 at London Stadium, the venue for the 2012 Olympic athletics events and 2017’s world athletics championships.
Stars such as Olympic gold medallist over 800m Caster Semenya, world champion long jumper Luvo Manyonga and sprinter Akani Simbine are likely to spearhead the South African challenge.
Wayde van Niekerk, the world record holder for the 400m, will probably still be recuperating from a knee injury and miss the event.
“This is one of the exciting, innovative events we are seeing in our sport and our thanks go to British Athletics and the mayor of London for creating it and hosting it,” International Association of Athletics Federations president Sebastian Coe said.
“We have eight lanes, eight top nations, eight teams and a host of world-class athletes … in each event to win the trophy and prize pot. This will be a fastpaced and exhilarating experience for athletes and fans.”
One male and one female athlete from each nation will be picked for every field event and each track race up to 1,500m. The total prize pot will be $2m over two evening sessions.
UK Athletics chairman Richard Bowker said the World Cup event was an extension of the original idea to host a competition between Britain and the US. Because other countries were keen to become involved, an eight-country format was devised to extend the sport’s reach to a new audience.
“The two sessions will be in the evening, under lights with straight finals. There will be no heats or rounds so it should be even more exciting,” he said, adding that it might become more than a one-off.
“We hope this can become a major event. The best way to do that is to ensure the success of this first edition,” he said.
Bowker defended the timing, which was criticised by British athlete Kelly Sotherton on social media for clashing with soccer’s World Cup final and Wimbledon tennis finals.
“We were obviously aware of the dates,” said Bowker. Organisers were constrained by the stadium-sharing arrangement with Premier League football club West Ham United, he said. “There is limited availability. “We know the World Cup final happens in the afternoon, UK time, so we would say that everyone can come along afterwards. What a fantastic weekend of sport that will be.”