Greg Rutherford says farewell...to his British fans*

British long-jumping legend and Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion, Greg Rutherford was denied a dream farewell to the sport during his final year of competition; having to settle for a second round effort of 7.43m as his best mark in the long jump competition of the Muller Grand prix at the Diamond League Meeting at the Alexander Stadium Birmingham today.

Rutherford said: “I am incredibly lucky to have is an opportunity to come out in the stadiums one last time to wave to the crowds, sign lots of autographs and meet lots of people because that’s part of what I think as an athlete you should do. You should give back when you can and that is what I am using this time to do.

Greg Rutherford on his way to 7.43m in the second round of jumps

“I wanted to turn this into my farewell tour and I just want to have a chance to go one more time in the big British meets and try and enjoy it and actually see it from a different sort of standing point.”

* - Greg is scheduled to compete one last time at the Newcastle Great City Games in early September

Mo Farah gets ready for the London Anniversary Games

Reigning double Olympic, World and European champion Mo Farah was the star of a press conference called by British Athletics ahead of competing in the 5000m at the London Anniversary Games last weekend.

The London OlympicStadium was the scene of Farah’s greatest achievements as he won the 5000m and 10,000m in front of an incredible home support. He answered a variety of questions, but in which Russian athletics and BPL (football) featured heavily.

Injuries force Greg Rutherford to miss World Indoor Championships

Great Britain's Olympic and World champion Greg Rutherford will miss the World Indoor Championships in Portland, USA (17th-20th March) as he recovers from a chest infection and hamstring injury that also kept him out of the recent indoors meetings.

Greg Rutherford, UK Championships, Birmingham, July 2015

He will now look to concentrate on defending his Olympic long jump title in Rio in August, but we'd like to see him back in action in the Diamond Leagues and UK Championships before that.

Anthony Joshua faces Charles Martin for IBF heavyweight title

Olympic champion Anthony Joshua will fight reigning IBF champion Charles Martin for the world heavyweight title at London's O2 Arena on Saturday 9th April.

Anthony Joshua, Sheffield's Olympic send-off, Peace Gardens, Sheffield 2012

The Briton, 26, has 15 knock-outs from 15 professional fights while American Martin, 29, has won 23 and drawn one of his 24 fights and most recently beat Vyacheslav Glazkov for the vacant IBF belt in January.

Nestle to come clean with it's IAAF sponsorship deal?

Swiss-based food and drink giant Nestle has ended its sponsorship of the IAAF, as it fears the doping scandal engulfing the world athletics governing body could damage its reputation.  Ha!

IAAF president, Seb Coe, Olympic Torch Relay, Sheffield, 2012

Nestle has been a sponsor of the IAAF's global KidsAthletics scheme since 2012 which funds 15 million children aged 7-12 in 76 countries but is ending its involvement a year early. Some might say that it is a strange decision as it is sponsorship like this which may actually help Nestle's reputation which is globally sullied over numerous allegations of: promoting baby milk as better than breast in many African countries; asserting that access to water isn't a universal right; allegations of child labour; environmental pollution; price fixing; promoting and mis-labelling unhealthy food etc etc etc

Many people still believe that Seb Coe is still the best person to lead the IAAF forward - it just looks like another hurdle has been put in his path.

IAAF president Lord Coe has since accused Nestle of hypocrisy - pointing to Nestle's backing of the Tour de France during a time when cycling had notable doping problems.

Jessica Ennis-Hill to miss indoor season

Olympic and World heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill has confirmed that she will will miss the indoor athletics season with an Achilles injury.

Jessica Ennis-Hill and coach Toni Minichiello, Great City Games, Manchester, May 2015

She has said that she is "really frustrated" but wants to be "100% ready" to defend her Olympic title in Rio in August.  This will be a disappointment to everyone hoping to see her at the UK Indoors on her home turf of the EIS, Sheffield on 27/28th Feb.

Jessica Ennis-Hill looking to qualify for Rio

Jessica Ennis-Hill says that she is fit to compete in her first heptathlon since becoming Olympic champion.  She has recently returned to competition again and has had promising run outs at the Great CityGames in Manchester and the Loughborough International.

Jessica Ennis-Hill at the UK Indoor Championships in 2012 where she ramped up her qualification for London 2012

She will now travel to Gotzis on 30th-31st May to target a slot at Rio in 2016 with a heptathlon score above 6,200 points.  She said qualifying early for the Rio Olympics would remove "...a real pressure", adding: "All the indicators are looking positive, so I plan to go to Gotzis and give it my best shot."

She has also confirmed her intention to compete in the Sainsbury's Birmingham Grand Prix at the Alexander Stadium on Sunday 7th June.  Looks like Sheffield's Golden Girl is going for it!

It’s 500 days to go until the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

This week marks 500 days to go until Rio de Janeiro hosts the 31st Olympiad on Friday 5th August 2016.

London 2012 exceeded everyone's expectations - the crowds, the atmosphere and the performances - 29 golds, 17 silver and 19 bronze which took us to third behind only the US and China.

Boxer Joe Joyce who won the Super-Heavyweight crown at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has set his sights on adding the Olympic title as well.

Seb Coe and his team built on the roller-coaster of the winning bid to lead a world-class games experience.  Three years down the line we are still enjoying the effects of sports participation and British athletes doing well.  The Olympic park is being transformed into a lasting legacy and I look forward to be at the stadium again this year for the Anniversary Games.

More action from the Birmingham Grand Prix

In a hectic 3 hours of competition, Olympic Champion Greg Rutherford won the Men's long jump with 8.17m - the best in the world this year and just 1cm short of the national record and (going by his form yesterday and just how far off the front of the board he took off from) there is a good year in store for him. It looks like he'll skip Prague next month to concentrate on the World Championships later on in the year.

This shot was taken by a remote camera, set up by the side of the long jump pit and trigger from over 60m away where I was at the end of the sprint straight.

Jenny Meadows is still number one in the world - winning the 800m in a time of 2:01.25

Nigel Levine continued his great start to the season by winning the 400m in 46.43 ahead of Jarryd Dunn (who also makes the plane to Prague) and loved every second of it:

Kim Collins won the 60m in 6.50 seconds ahead of Chijindu Ujah who finished second in 6.55 in a race which was disrupted by two false starts by Daniel Bailey (Antigua) and Michael Rodgers (USA):

Allan Smith was one of five athletes to clear 2.26m in a thrilling men’s high jump competition - winning the competition on countback as he was the only athlete to clear each height on the first attempt:

Lawrence Clarke came second in the men's 60m hurdles in 7.62 seconds, dipping over the line only just behind Kevin Craddock (USA):

Habiba Ghribi - Tunisia’s world and Olympic silver medallist - came good in the women's 3000m in a time of 8:46.61:

Axumawit Embaye (Ethiopia) seen here keeping tabs in an early lap, set a new all-comers record in the women’s mile in a time of 4:23.50:

Greg Rutherford sets outright British long jump record

Well done to Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford who has become the outright British long jump record holder after jumping 8.51m at an event at the Olympic Training Centre in San Diego.

He fouled his first two jumps and registered a leap of 8.18m before breaking the record with his fourth effort.  The Milton Keynes athlete won the meeting, with Tyron Stewart of the US second with a best jump of 8.39m.

Here's hoping his good form (he was impressive in February at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix) continues this year until at least the Commonwealth Games.

Chris Mears, Olympic Diver, Google hero

Just been checking Google Analytics and it seems that a big part of the surge in traffic my website experienced over the Olympics was down to this picture:

 Cheers Chris!  See the original and others from the 2012 UK Diving Championships held at Ponds Forge, Sheffield at: http://www.peverilphoto.com/photo_9701911.html

Seb Coe is THE man!

It's not often that a 'Sebastian' grabs the headlines, but good old Seb Coe has done a sterling job, firstly heading up the UK's bid to get the Olympics and then running the show.  On Monday it was his turn to be a bit of a figurehead and enjoy the limelight in a town where he did so much of his running in the late 70s and early 80s.  He carried the Olympic Torch along Arundel Gate in Sheffield - seen here waiting to 'kiss' the flame into life:

The world and his wife and their dog all want pictures at the moment so when I get a chance to put some on my own website I'll post an update.
Good couple of days though.  Well done to LOCOG for their organisation and especially to Sheffield City Council for putting so much effort into hosting a mega evening celebration and stopover/sendoff.