Recent fighting has forced the racecourse to have police officers present every raceday for the remainder of the seasonAs Goodwood starts a three-day meeting, it’s encouraging to read that security has already been tightened up significantly since the brawl at their Saturday meeting earlier this month. Most importantly, there is to be a police presence at every raceday there for the rest of the season.This could certainly be seen as overkill. I imagine the officers posted to Goodwood for their Sunday fixture in mid-October will have very little to do but try to get the placepot up. Related: Fraud trial collapses over disclosure of BHA evidence Lingfield 1.10 Cricklewood Green 1.40 Crossing The Line 2.15 Mooroverthebridge 2.50 Hollander 3.25 Gravity Wave...
The health check was a long time in coming but a trend towards a softer approach to coaching, as seen in hockey, bodes promisingly for sport’s wellbeing“The truth will be uncovered,” promised Dame Katherine Grainger as she revealed UK Sport’s first culture health check. “Whether it is good, bad, or ugly.”The good? The report found that 90% of British athletes are proud to be on the world class programme. The bad? Thirty-one per cent of athletes have witnessed or experienced unacceptable behaviour. And the ugly? Eighteen per cent of athletes feel there are no consequences when people behave inappropriately. The sincerity of Grainger, who took over as chair of UK Sport last year, was obvious and her pledge to lance...
With UK Sport’s funding set to fall, we need an honest debate about which sports to fully support – and whether medals benefit the nationIt is a question that could soon sound as familiar as a BBC commentator getting overexcited about a potential curling medal. “Why spend a huge amount of money on winter sports,” asked the interrogator, “when we are not a winter sport nation?” Yet when it was uttered, at a press conference to announce Britain’s medal target of five in Pyeongchang, you could have heard a pin drop.That was because the person doing the asking was Katherine Grainger, the new chair of UK Sport, which supplies – and denies – funding to Olympic teams. And the organisation’s...
UK Anti-Doping Agency’s long and expensive investigation has reached what feels an unsatisfactory conclusion for all involved, including Bradley WigginsA 14-month investigation. Thirty‑seven witness interviews. A significant hit on the UK Anti‑Doping Agency budget. Yet still we are no closer to knowing whether the package delivered to Sir Bradley Wiggins at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011 contained a legal decongestant or a banned drug. Or to hearing from a key witness, Dr Richard Freeman, whose illness seems to have provoked a nine-month silence worthy of a monk.But we can be sure of this: few parties come out well from the Ukad investigation, which was closed on Wednesday. Not Team Sky or British Cycling, whose response to the initial claims the...
An independent union wouldn’t only combat well-publicised issues in British sport – it would also give athletes a voice and ensure greater transparencyWill the last Olympic sport in Britain free from bullying, sexism or racism allegations – or, indeed, disgruntled athletes – please turn out the lights? The question is especially pertinent given British Gymnastics has now joined the lengthy roll call of sporting bodies accused of allowing “a culture of fear”, with athletes and coaches afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals.How many times must we hear that F-word before we accept that it is not just the odd snowflake who cannot handle the rough and tumble of elite sport? And, then, will we actually pledge to do...