I’VE NO REGRETS AT BEING IN SARRIES SCHEMES SAYS MAKO
VUNIPOLA OPENS HIS HEART OVER CLUB AGONY
PAULA RADCLIFFE has voiced concern for athletics’ future unless more kids can be inspired to take up the sport.
World champion heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Laura Muir headline today’s Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix, along with Scot Jemma Reekie, the 21-year-old who recently broke three British indoor records in the space of eight days.
But athletics is at its lowest ebb in years. Britain failed to hit its medal target at the World Championships in Doha in October and with the governing body in turmoil, former CEO of England Netball Joanna Adams was named as UK Athletics’ new chief executive on Thursday.
It comes in a week where UK Sport announced a major review into UK Athletics while there are reports that the BBC may seek to renegotiate its TV rights deal on greatly reduced terms.
Marathon legend Radcliffe (below) admitted: “Athletics is competing with so many more sports for kids and parents’ attention. It’s harder and harder in today’s world to get kids and parents to put their screens down. We’ve got to do something to grab that attention.
“Part of the issue is they are not pulled into it as a spectator sport, which is kind of how I got involved in athletics – drawn in by watching the LA Olympics, then pestering my dad to take me down to a local track.
“If we’re not attracting people at that level, you worry a little bit about the future of the sport.”
Which is one reason Radcliffe is so excited by the emergence of Reekie, the new British indoor record holder at 800 metres, mile and 1500m, the distance she races today.
But she is also angered that a question mark has been placed over the young Glaswegian by what
she is wearing on her feet, namely prototype Nike spikes, only months before a new World Athletics rule bans any prototype shoe from elite competition.
The debate continues despite Reekie’s coach Andy Young saying her shoes do meet the regs as they will be on the market before April.
Radcliffe said: “It’s really key
MAKO VUNIPOLA has no regrets at getting involved in one of the “co-investment” ventures that led to the downfall of Saracens.
The Londoners were condemned to relegation after a disciplinary report found that owner Nigel Wray broke the rules by entering into investments worth that kids see success as attainable. “And when it’s people that they know it’s much easier to think it’s something you can do. Which is £1.3million with a handful of his stars.
There is no suggestion that Sarries players, who include Mako and younger brother Billy, were complicit in the club’s actions, nor knew anything about salary-cap violations.
The older Vunipola admitted that the past three months had been the worst why it’s so dangerous and I have so many issues with people pointing fingers and making excuses about whether shoes help that much or not.
“It hands young athletes an excuse not to be good enough when they need to think, ‘Right, I can do that’.”
As part of Radcliffe’s mission to get more youngsters running, her Families On Track initiative conducted a study which showed one in six parents of kids of his professional life, but said: “For us there are no regrets at all. If I had the choice to do it again, I would do it again knowing what has happened.
“That is no slight at not caring about what has happened to the club, but more the fact that I know rugby is important. But our careers are short and I want under 16 never exercise with their offspring and nearly half don’t consider themselves a physical role model for their children.
“Something like 87 per cent of 13-18-year-olds don’t meet the World Health Organisation guidelines for physical activity which is 20 minutes of walking three times a week,” she added.
“Young kids want to run around, they want to be active, to look ahead.” Vunipola (right), 29, said he got involved not for one moment thinking any line had been crossed.
“Nigel came to us and presented the opportunity,” he revealed. “As players our careers aren’t that long. Any opportunity that can sort our future after rugby we’re more than willing to look you only have to look at playgrounds. It’s only society that kind of trains them to be lazier as they get older.”
■ RunFestRun is championing families to get more active with a three-day running festival on May 22-24 at Windsor Great Park.
■ Paula Radcliffe’s new initiative Families On Track will be there offering people of all abilities the chance to take part. Sign up now at www.runfestrun.co.uk into. That was our thinking when we first invested with Nigel and that’s not changed. It’s business as usual. In terms of Nigel, he’s still there and backs us.”
Vunipola stopped short of committing his future to Saracens beyond the summer. “As a team, we will try and enjoy the time we have together,” he added.