Amateur athletes put in a marathon effort

A British couple have successfully completed all 102 Olympic events over the duration of the Tokyo Games for a charity fundraiser.

Charlotte Nichols and Stuart Bates, from Oxford, took on the 17-day challenge in honour of Mr Bates’s brother Spencer, known as Spenny, who died 10 years ago from motor neurone disease.

With the original aim of raising £10,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, donations for the “Spennylympics” have surged to more than 11 times that.

The total reached £111,000 as the pair crossed the line on their final event – a 26.2-mile run.

“It was really hard, there were tears, there were points when we were like, ‘Oh God’, but we finished it and it feels amazing to have done it,” Miss Nichols, a student doctor, said.

Mr Bates said it was “super special” to complete the event in Weymouth, where his brother had lived.