British Champs pushed back

THE British Athletics Championships has been rescheduled for September.

The event will now take place behindclosed-doors at the Manchester Regional Arena on September 4 and 5.

The format is yet to be set but will be subject to the government’s coronavirus guidelines in place at the time.

Joanna Coates, CEO of UK Athletics said: “We are delighted to be able to offer our athletes an opportunity to compete and still become British champions at the end of the summer in what has been the most unprecedented of circumstances for all sport.”

The event had originally been scheduled for June 20 and 21 and would have doubled as the trials for the Olympics in Tokyo before the Games were postponed until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was then hoped the competition would have taken place in August but it has now been pushed back until September.

Discussions are also ongoing with the Wanda Diamond League about the Grand Prix in Gateshead which British Athletics has confirmed will not take place on August 16. September 12 is a possible date but, if it goes ahead, the event will be behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, British Athletics has confirmed that head of endurance Barry Fudge has left his role.

Fudge was appointed in December 2013 and played a pivotal role in Mo Farah’s world and Olympic triumphs.

However he had found himself under increasing pressure in recent years over his links with Farah’s disgraced former coach Alberto Salazar.

An independent review of UK Athletics’ links to Salazar, published earlier this year, found that Fudge and the then performance director, the late Neil Black, had exerted pressure on the organisation to maintain its links to Salazar in 2015, despite mounting concerns over his methods. Salazar was subsequently found guilty of doping offences and issued with a four-year ban from the sport in October 2019.

There is no suggestion either Fudge or Farah acted improperly.

In a statement issued by British Athletics, Fudge said: “It’s a difficult time for the performance team and the sport as a whole but it has been great to see British Athletics use the opportunity to push on with recruiting the new head coach and performance director ahead of Tokyo 2021.

“The time is right for me to move on, and I am looking forward to watching our athletes progress and succeed at future championships.”