Iwan is in awe of ‘special’ stadium
BRITISH sprinting great Iwan Thomas has lauded the revamped Alexander Stadium as a special place for athletics ahead of the Müller Birmingham Diamond League getting underway on May 21.
Thomas’ 400m UK record set at the stadium 25 years ago still stands today – where he beat out the likes of Mark Richardson, Roger Black and Jamie Baulch, who earlier that year made up the team that took silver in the 4x400 relay at the Atlanta Games.
With a big summer of sport for the city ahead, starting with the Müller Diamond League, Thomas believes Birmingham can be proud of its athletics legacy that he himself was a part of, but all eyes are on the outstanding talent from around the world descending on the West Midlands.
At a visit to the newly revamped stadium, Thomas said: “I have hugely happy memories of competing here. The domestic rivalry was fantastic for me, but I’m almost jealous of what is in place now. The new facilities look unbelievable, it’s state of the art as you would expect.
“It is quite literally the home of the sport. I live at the other end of the country, but it’s always felt like the home of athletics for me. They’ve got something majestic here, I do think Birmingham should be really proud. The Diamond League here is going to be massive and the athletes are going to love competing here and in front of a big Birmingham crowd. “For the fans it’ll be great to be back again, and the athletes will thrive off it. Those competing at the Diamond League and then in the Commonwealth Games, there will no doubt be a bit of a psychological advantage for them as they get familiarised to the amazing new facilities. “The colours, the feel of the track – it’s all the little details that you can see that Birmingham have gone all out to provide the best stage for the very best athletes, and you can’t
help get excited knowing the talent that is going to be stepping out.
“The new stadium will provide that next level of noise and atmosphere, which is what the athletes do it for. The likes of Britain’s fastest female Dina Asher-smith and Olympic silver medallist and European champion Keely Hodgkinson will be competing here in style, in front of real people and there’s just nothing like it. The level of competition our British stars will be going up against is going to be so high, if you want to see the very best in the world then this is the place to be.
“I would say to anyone thinking about getting tickets to just do it – this is an amazing place and we’ve all missed world class sport. As special as the stadium is to me, the redevelopment has taken it to that next level.”
The Müller Birmingham Diamond League will feature the best athletes from around the world and take place at the Alexander Stadium on Saturday May 21. Tickets are available at www.britishathletics.org.uk
It’s always felt like the home of athletics for me. They’ve got something majestic here. Iwan Thomas