NO MURRAY SCOTSTOUN COMEBACK
We need athletics referees
CALLUM HAWKINS CALLUM HAWKINS reckons athletes need boxing-style referees to stop races and save struggling runners from themselves.
The welfare of elite athletes has been thrust in the spotlight since he collapsed suffering heat exhaustion near the end of a marathon held in sizzling 30 degree heat.
Seven of the 24-strong field failed to finish the marathon and six of those, including Hawkins, are believed to have been admitted to hospital while the race was still underway.
He reckons athletes would be better protected if officials were appointed to monitor runners for signs of physical distress – and had the power to stop them in their tracks before it becomes dangerous.
Hawkins said: “I didn’t feel it coming. Something needs to be done to help athletes because I was not in a position to make that call myself. Someone should have stepped in.
“I have no recollection of getting back up. It’s almost like instinct for an athlete to refuse help because I was in a medal position and wanted to finish. It’s the same in boxing. A lot of fighters want to keep going – but they can’t.
“When you are on the ground for 90 seconds, there should be a point when someone decides: ‘He’s not getting back up’.
Scottishathletics chief Mark Munro has demanded answers from the Commonwealth Games organisers over a string of concerns – most of all the timing of the race during the hottest day of the year on the Gold Coast.
He said: “There are a number of key questions that need to be addressed.” BY TED TRACEY ANDY MURRAY won’t be making his eagerlyanticipated comeback at the Glasgow Trophy next week.
The former world No.1, who is recovering from hip surgery, was thinking about playing at the new ATP Challenger event.
But the Dunblane ace is now snubbing Scotstoun to focus on stepping up his rehab ahead of Wimbledon this summer.
Murray, who was forced to go under knife after struggling throughout last year’s doomed title defence at SW19, could make his comeback on grass in Holland next month.
The Libema Open is the next confirmed tourney in his schedule but he could also play a Challenger event in Loughborough before Queen’s Club then Wimbledon.
The next Grand Slam is the French Open, which begins on May 21, but it’s understood Murray won’t be competing at Roland Garros as he focuses on the grass season.
Murray’s absence is a blow to Challenger event in Glasgow but there’s still plenty of Scottish interest.
Aidan McHugh, the 17-year-old Glaswegian mentored by Murray, was confirmed yesterday as one of four wild card entries into the main draw.
Another young Scot, Jacob Fearnley, will take part in the qualifying draw which begins on Saturday.
Murray’s greatest rival Novak Djokovic is already back in action after a longterm elbow injury.
But the Serb’s woes continued yesterday with a 6-2 1-6 6-3 loss to world No.140 Martin Klizan at the Barcelona Open. Djokovic has not reached the last eight of a tourney since last year’s Wimbledon and lost to Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters last week.
Meanwhile, a new report has claimed a “tsunami” of match-fixing is plaguing lower-level tennis events.
But the Independent Review Panel (IRP) has found no evidence of a cover-up by governing bodies – and no top players are implicated.
Tennis players at the lowest level are struggling to cover the costs of competing. And the report claimed this made betting on matches more attractive.
The report, which took statements from 200 key stakeholders and more than 3200 survey responses, said: “Integrity problems are greatest where prize money relative to costs, prospects of advancement, public interest and attention, and financial resources of tournaments are lowest”.
It also found “evidence of some issues” at Slams and Tour events, although it did not uncover evidence of a widespread problem at those higher levels.
However, the report admitted “tanking“– players seemingly giving up during matches – has been too often tolerated by the tennis authorities.
I’ve had a lot of attention but it’s not the way I wanted to be the story of the Games