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Great North Run 2023: MO FARAH 4th in final race of his career..

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Farah won six consecutive Great North Run titles from 2014

Mo Farah, one of the greatest British athletes of all time, finished fourth in the final race of his career at the Great North Run.

The 40-year-old four-time Olympic champion slipped off the pace early in the famous 13.1-mile race from Newcastle to South Shields.

He finished three minutes 30 seconds behind Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola, who won in 59mins 58secs.

"It's very emotional. There was a lot going through my mind," Farah said.

He told BBC Sport: "All I know is running and that is what made me happy for so many years.

"Running is everything to me. Running is what saved me."

'Thank you for the memories, thank you for the medals'
Farah retires with a glittering CV.

He became the first Briton to complete the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m double with victory in front of a joyous home crowd at London 2012, and defended his titles at Rio 2016.

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Only five Britons have more Olympic medals than Farah, who also won six world, five European and two European indoor titles as well as the Chicago Marathon in a career dating back more than two decades.

Farah waved to the crowd during the final 200m of the Great North Run before jogging back down the finishing straight to high-five fans, many of whom were carrying 'One Mo Time' signs.

"Without the crowd I wouldn't have got through it," he said.

"I wanted to end my career here in Newcastle. I've had some amazing memories. It's really important to come out here and give my support to the crowd.

"It's very important to have a race like this. Without the support and community in Newcastle, it wouldn't be the same."

Former European 10,000m champion and Great North Run founder Brendan Foster said: "Mo Farah is the greatest sportsman or woman Britain has ever had. We'll never see his type again."

Steve Cram, the former 1500m world champion and now BBC commentator, said: "Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the medals. Thank you for all the excitement and drama."

British Athletics described Farah, who was knighted in 2016, as "the greatest", while Team GB tweeted: "Generation: inspired."

'Super-shoes', tumbling world records and the race for a sub two-hour official marathon..

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Kelvin Kiptum has won all three of the marathons he has competed in

Marathon world records have tumbled over the past two weeks in the men's and women's races, though the main topic of conversation is not the athletes, but the role played by 'super-shoes'.

Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa smashed the women's marathon world record in Berlin on 24 September, crossing the line in two hours 11 minutes 53 seconds - taking two minutes 11 seconds off the record set by Kenya's Brigid Kosgei in Chicago in 2019.

Assefa, a former 800m specialist, only made her marathon debut in March 2022 and was wearing Adidas' £400 Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 shoes.

There was more to come - Kenyan long-distance runner Kelvin Kiptum crossed the line in a world record time at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, wearing what World Athletics call Nike Dev 163 trainers. Nike has confirmed they are Alphafly 3 shoes.

Kiptum completed the race in 2:00:35, beating the record set by compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in 2022 by 34 seconds.

It was an incredible achievement for someone competing in just their third marathon, and he now boasts three of the six fastest times in history.

He recorded a personal best of 2:01:53 on his debut in Valencia in December 2022 - the sixth-fastest time in history - and improved on that by 28 seconds when he won this year's London Marathon in the third-fastest time ever.

The women's Chicago Marathon was won by Sifan Hassan, who set a course record, also wearing Alphafly 3s.

So, what are these 'super-shoes' and how much of an advantage, if any, are athletes like Kiptum and Assefa gaining by wearing them?

More at the link below:

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/67062551

International Olympic Committee suspends Russian Olympic Committee 'with immediate effect'..

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Russian athletes could only compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics - which took place prior to the invasion of Ukraine - as Team ROC because of a ban on Russia over doping violations

The International Olympic Committee's executive board has suspended the Russian Olympic Committee "with immediate effect until further notice".

The move comes after the ROC recognised regional organisations from four Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Russia since its full-scale invasion began in 2022.

The IOC said last Thursday's recognition was "a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine".

The suspension means the ROC "is no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee" and "cannot receive any funding from the Olympic movement".

Olympic Councils from the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia had been recognised by the ROC.

The IOC added it would decide whether Russian athletes could compete as neutrals at Paris 2024 "at the appropriate time".

In response, the ROC called the suspension "another counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations".

The IOC did not initially sanction the ROC following the invasion, but Russia has been banned from competing as a nation in athletics since November 2015 after state-sponsored doping was uncovered.

Russia's doping suspension was lifted in March but the World Athletics Council ruled the nation would remain banned "for the foreseeable future" because of the war in Ukraine.

The IOC has been under consistent pressure to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing even under a neutral flag since the invasion began.

But in March it told sporting federations they should allow athletes from those countries to compete as neutrals.

Ukraine has threatened to boycott next year's Games in Paris if a full ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes is not upheld.

"This is an important decision," said Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine's presidential office, who added that "sports cannot be out of politics" and accused Russia of using "athletes as propaganda".

Currently, IOC sanctions mean no international sporting events can be organised in the territory of either Russia or its ally Belarus, while the flags, national anthems or any other national symbol of both countries must not be used.

Earlier this week European football's governing body Uefa abandoned plans to reinstate Russian Under-17 teams into next year's youth European Championships following backlash from a variety of national football associations.

In March the All England Club allowed Russian and Belarusian tennis players to compete at Wimbledon, lifting a ban it imposed a year earlier.

Stephen Maguire: UK Athletics technical director leaves with immediate effect..

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UK Athletics is searching for its third lead coach in two years

Sudden and unexpected announcement from the governing body with Paris Olympics just nine months away

When Stephen Maguire was named by UK Athletics in June last year as its technical director, the governing body described him as “the best person to lead the (world class) programme towards Paris and Los Angeles”.

Yet little more than 15 months later he is leaving his post with no immediate explanation.

A brief statement from the governing body said: “UK Athletics have announced that Stephen Maguire will leave his role as technical director with immediate effect. An interim head coach will be announced in due course, until then no further comment will be made.”

Maguire effectively replaced Christian Malcolm last year after the former sprinter had earlier beaten Maguire, among others, to the job of Olympic head coach at UKA in 2020.

Maguire drew criticism this year for overseeing a selection strategy that left a number of eligible British athletes at home for the World Championships in Budapest. But the overall performance was one of success as the squad earned 10 medals, including two golds, which equalled the best-ever GB medal tally from the 1993 World Championships.

Before his stint at UKA, Maguire worked at Athletics Ireland and Scottish Athletics and was also head of high performance at Sport Ireland.

In the past he has also worked in the United States, whereas his recent spell at UKA will be his second period of working at the governing body after previously being head of sprints and relays.

With the Paris Games now less than a year away, UKA is looking for someone to lead the coaching programme for the Olympics.

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Paris 2024 Olympics: Katarina Johnson-Thompson & Josh Kerr in UK Athletics' funding programme..

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World champions Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Josh Kerr are among the athletes who will receive the highest level of funding from UK Athletics going into next year's Olympic Games.

Ben Pattison has also been selected after a shock bronze in the 800m at this year's World Championships.

But Alex Bell, who finished seventh in the Olympic women's 800m final at Tokyo 2020, has been stripped of all funding.

In total, 67 athletes will receive financial support from UK Athletics.

Known as the 'World Class Programme', the selected athletes are split into four levels on the basis of previous results and potential performance at the next two Olympic Games - Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.

To qualify for the funding, UK Athletics says it "must be confident that any athlete nominated has the realistic potential and demonstrable performance capability and capacity to make the necessary progress to achieve a medal at least in one of the next two Olympic Games".

As well as Pattison, middle-distance runner Katie Snowden, pole vaulter Molly Caudery and high jumper Morgan Lake have been promoted to the highest level of financial support after competing at the World Championships in Budapest.

However, there is no place for 110m hurdler Andrew Pozzi, Commonwealth hammer champion Nick Miller or sprinter Reece Prescod.

In August, Prescod - who has clocked 9.99 seconds in the 100m this season - accused UK Athletics of "emotional blackmail" after he pulled out of the relay squad at the World Championships.

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Who has made the cut?
Olympic podium (17):

Dina Asher-Smith, Holly Bradshaw, Molly Caudery, Keely Hodgkinson, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Zharnel Hughes, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Josh Kerr, Morgan Lake, Laura Muir, Daryll Neita, Ben Pattison, Jemma Reekie, Jazmin Sawyers, Cindy Sember, Katie Snowden, Jake Wightman.

Olympic podium potential (19):

Lizzie Bird, Melissa Courtney-Bryant, Tom Gale, Elliot Giles, Neil Gourley, Jake Heyward, Jessie Knight, Eilish McColgan, Naomi Metzger, George Mills, Jade O'Dowda, Lawrence Okoye, Aimee Pratt, Anna Purchase, Charlotte Purdue, Daniel Rowden, Marc Scott, Jessica Warner-Judd, Callum Wilkinson.

Olympic relays (18):

Eugene Amo-Dadzie, Jeremiah Azu, Joe Brier, Lewis Davey, Charlie Dobson, Jona Efoloko, Adam Gemili, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Rio Mitcham, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Laviai Nielsen, Victoria Ohuruogu, Asha Philip, Ama Pipi, Bianca Williams, Jodie Williams, Nicole Yeargin.

Olympic confirmation level (13):

Amber Anning, Ellie Baker, Alyson Bell, Max Burgin, Emile Cairess, Lucy Hadaway, Samantha Harrison, Yemi Mary John, Charlotte Payne, Tade Ojora, Aleeya Sibbons, Matthew Stonier, Joshua Zeller.

Bianca Williams banned from driving and given 18 penalty points..By Bethan Bell, BBC News.

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Bianca Williams arriving at Lavender Hill Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver/rider of a vehicle when required on three occasions

British sprinter Bianca Williams has been banned from driving despite telling a court it would jeopardise her chances of going to the 2024 Olympics.

Williams, 29, failed to tell police who was driving a Tesla Model 3 when an alleged offence took place.

The athlete claimed a ban would make it difficult for her to get to training.

But magistrates at Lavender Hill rejected her claim that she could not use public transport and suspended her from driving for six months.

Williams failed on three occasions to reply to letters from the police between April and June 2023.

In October, two Metropolitan Police officers were sacked over a stop and search of Williams and her partner, the Portuguese sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 28, in 2020.

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Two Metropolitan Police officers were sacked over the stop and search of Ms Williams and her partner, the Portuguese sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 28.

The couple are black and claimed they were racially profiled.

A police misconduct hearing was told officers followed Mr Dos Santos in their police carrier because of the "appalling" and "suspicious" nature of his driving and were doing their duty when they conducted the stop and search.

But the panel found two officers had lied about smelling cannabis.

Having pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to tell police the identity of a driver, Williams told the court she was not driving the Tesla at the time of the alleged offences.

Representing herself, Williams said she was currently working as a tennis coach in the evenings and as a full-time athlete during the day.

The sprinter, who lives in the Maida Vale area of west London with her partner, said it was "massively inconvenient" to get to the central London athletics track where she trains using public transport and "really hard" to get to her tennis coaching sessions in north London without a car.

She told the court she drops off her three-year-old child at nursery before training every morning, and said losing her licence would "make my dream of going to the Olympics next year impossible".

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Bianca Williams has won several medals competing in athletics for team GB.

"I understand this is totally my fault, I shouldn't have relied on somebody else to fill out the form," she said.

"It's hard to get from nursery to training. My income would drop because I wouldn't be able to do any coaching sessions.

"It would be horrible to lose my licence. I would potentially have no work and no income."

Williams was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay a fine of £276, a surcharge of £110 and £85 costs. Another 18 points were added to her licence, bringing her total to 29.

British athlete supplied with drugs, according to court documents in US..By Dan Roan, BBC sports editor.

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A male British Olympic athlete was supplied with banned drugs by an American therapist who is facing 10 years in jail, according to court papers filed in New York.

In May, Eric Lira became the first defendant to be charged under a new US law introduced in the wake of Russia's state-backed doping scandals.

He pleaded guilty to supplying performance-enhancing drugs to Olympic athletes.

But a sentencing document filed in the Southern District of New York has given details of other athletes and coaches implicated in the case, with an unnamed British competitor also referred to.

"Lira separately met with a third Olympic athlete who competed on behalf of the United Kingdom ('Athlete-3') multiple times in the Summer of 2021 for the purpose of providing him with PEDs [performance-enhancing drugs]," claims US attorney Damian Williams, in the document, which has been seen by the BBC.

As revealed by the Times, the case is now being investigated by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

The AIU declined to comment. UK Athletics also declined to comment, but is not believed to have been informed about the matter by the AIU.

Lira was found to have supplied drugs to Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, who last year was banned from athletics for 11 years.

The 34-year-old was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics just before the women's 100m semi-finals after it emerged she had tested positive for human growth hormone in an out-of-competition test in Slovakia before the delayed 2020 Games.

The court documents also state that: "Lira likewise provided drugs to an athlete competing on behalf of Switzerland in advance of the Olympic games ('Athlete-2') in the Summer of 2021, and discussed with an intermediary the detectability on drug tests of one of the prohibited drugs that Lira had provided to Athlete-2.

"In short, Lira travelled across the United States to deliver and/or administer various drugs to various Olympic athletes, all with the calculated aim of impacting the outcome of the Tokyo Olympics."

In a separate document, federal prosecutors also charged two American coaches, claiming they worked with Lira to provide drugs for athletes from Nigeria, Switzerland and the UK ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

Lira was charged under a 2020 law named after Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow's anti-doping laboratory who helped expose the country's state-sponsored doping regime.

Williams said in a federal court the case was a "watershed moment for international sport".

The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act enables US authorities to prosecute individuals involved in "doping schemes for the purpose of influencing international sports competitions" including those who have not previously been governed by sport anti-doping laws.

Laura Muir awarded retrospective European Indoor 3,000m bronze medal..

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Laura Muir finished 4th in Prague in 2015

Laura Muir has been awarded a retrospective European Indoor bronze after Russian Yelena Korobkina was found guilty of doping offences.

Scottish athlete Muir, an Olympic 1500m silver medallist, finished fourth in the 3,000m at the 2015 event in Prague.

Belarusian Sviatlana Kudzelich has had her silver upgraded to gold with Dutch runner Maureen Koster taking silver.

A reallocated medal ceremony will be arranged and Muir, 30, said the news brings "mixed emotions".

She told Scottish Athletics: "Predominantly I feel very fortunate and grateful to receive the bronze medal, particularly when still competing at an elite level, as I am aware many athletes are not afforded that opportunity.

"Had I received the medal on the day of the race, it would have been my first senior international medal at an age of 21.

"Missing out on that special moment, especially as I was not on the podium on the night, was very difficult. But looking back it made me more determined than ever to ensure the same outcome didn't happen for future championships, which luckily has been the case."

Muir has two European Indoor 3,000m golds from the 2017 and 2019 championships and is also a two-time 1500m European champion and a Commonwealth champion over that distance.

With her retrospective bronze, she has 14 major podium finishes.

"I am very excited to see that particular European Indoors 2015 medal and it will have a proud place alongside my other sporting accomplishments," Muir added.

Korobkina, 33, has been banned for four years from September 2023 and her results from July 2013 to July 2016 will be expunged.

Dwain Chambers to race at UK Indoors Championships aged 45..

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Former world indoor champion Dwain Chambers is set to race in the 60m at the UK Indoor Championships at the age of 45.

Chambers qualified for February's event by running 6.81 seconds at a meet in Lee Valley earlier this year.

He was banned for doping in 2004 but returned to the sport in 2006 and won the 60m world indoor title in 2010.

The qualifying time for the World Indoor Championships, which take place in Glasgow in March, is 6.58secs.

Chambers, who last ran for Great Britain in 2014, attempted to break into American football twice - during his two-year doping ban and again in 2007 - before an unsuccessful trial spell at rugby league club Castleford Tigers in 2008.

He took gold at the World Indoors in Doha in 2010 and bronze two years later in Istanbul.

He officially retired in July 2017 but also ran in the British Indoors 60m Championships in 2019 only to be disqualified for a false start in semi-finals.