The England Athletics Podcast

With the Sportshall UK Final taking place in Stoke-on-Trent this Saturday 6th April, a special episode of the England Athletics Podcast has been published, looking at the history of Sportshall Athletics. Sportshall is an indoor form of track and field for children between the ages of four and 16. Created by George Bunner, the first competition took place in 1976, with the aim of providing a safe a...

This episode features a round-up of the action from the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow as host Alex Seftel talks to athletes including pole vault gold medallist Molly Caudery, who won the title with a best clearance of 4.80m. Caudery was the youngest member of Team England's Commonwealth Games squad in 2018, before winning a silver medal in Birmingham in 2022, while coached by her...

Abi Pawlett discusses what it means to make the British squad for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, where she will be competing in the pentathlon after setting a big personal best recently as part of an England Athletics team in Tallinn. Host Alex Seftel also catches up with UK indoor 1500m champion Georgia Bell, who will compete in Glasgow after returning to athletics following...

The England Athletics Podcast goes behind the scenes of a winter training session at the London Marathon Community Track with Newham and Essex Beagles sprinter Emmanuel Sosanya and his coach Coral Nourrice. Emmanuel talks to host Alex Seftel about balancing athletics with being a fashion model, discusses meeting Wayde van Niekerk at the track at the London Diamond League, and explains his outlook...

UK javelin champion Bekah Walton joins the England Athletics Podcast to talk about her dream of becoming both an Olympian and an engineer. The 24-year-old tells host Alex Seftel about the role of her mum, her dog and netball in propelling her athletics career. Photo: Getty Images for UK Athletics

In the latest episode of the England Athletics Podcast, world 400m hurdles semi-finalist Chris McAlister joins host Alex Seftel to reflect on his career to date. The 27-year-old discusses how he combines athletics with being a government civil servant and describes his enjoyment of his training group led by coach Marina Armstrong. England Athletics CEO also comes on to tell us what we have to look...

Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallists Maddie Down and Phoebe Gill join Team Leader Scott Grace and podcast host Alex Seftel to reflect on their experience in Trinidad and Tobago. England won 24 medals to top the athletics table in August, with Down sealing T38 100m and long jump gold and Gill winning the 800m.

England Athletics Chair Gary Shaughnessy and CEO Chris Jones join the podcast to reflect on the 2023 season. They discuss how all levels of the sport can benefit from an excellent World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games, before talking about priorities for the future of athletics including supporting clubs and competition providers experiencing rising costs. Chris also visits Va...

Hammer thrower Anna Purchase says it has been a "journey of determination" to make it to her World Athletics Championships debut in Budapest. The 23-year-old started competing as an Under-11 athlete at Notts Athletic Club, and tells of how she persevered through a number of 4th and 6th places at English Schools Championships, before getting on the podium with silver in 2018. Since then, she has ma...

This podcast is a World Para Athletics Championships special, with three of the nation's accomplished stars - wheelchair racer Karé Adenegan, sprinter Tom Young and high jumper Jonathan Broom-Edwards - talking everything from challenges they have overcome to best career moments and achieving more recognition. This episode also marks the announcement of England Athletics' team for the Commonwealth...

In this final episode of the Coaching Voices series, Olympic coach Tom McNab describes his memories of watching great athletes and what he has learned from them. Referencing discussion from the ten other coaches he has interviewed during the past year, the author and former athlete tells Alex Seftel how coaching has developed during his time in the sport and how it could change in future. He also...

In this latest Coaching Voices special episode, host Tom McNab talks to former international cross-country coach Hamish Telfer about his career in athletics. Hamish coached the likes of Olympians Liz Yelling and Spencer Duval as part of World University Cross Country Championships teams.

Malcolm Arnold, the former UK Athletics Head Coach and personal coach to hurdlers including Colin Jackson, Eilidh Doyle, Dai Greene and Andrew Pozzi talks about his life in athletics. In this latest Coaching Voices special on the England Athletics Podcast, he describes to host Tom McNab about going to Uganda to coach the sport, where he worked with 1972 Olympic 400m hurdles Olympic champion and fo...

European champion athlete and musician Rio Mitcham joins host Alex Seftel to talk about his running and rapping talents. In the same month that Rio was performing on the global stage, helping Great Britain and Northern Ireland to win the 4x400m title at Munich 2022, he released a dedicated song called "Euro Champs". Also in this episode, England Athletics' Chris Mallender and Sarah Benson talk abo...

In this episode, we hear from five people who play important roles in athletics from volunteering and coaching to officiating, team managing and event organising. Ben Pochee is the race director of Highgate Harriers' Night of the 10,000m PBs, one of the nation's most popular and influential track meetings. He talks to host Alex Seftel about how the event became the so-called 'Glastonbury of Athlet...

This weekend sees the return of the TCS London Marathon with around 50,000 runners expected to pass through the start line. As a registered athlete in a club affiliated with England Athletics, you can gain spots to take part in this prestigious race. In this episode, we meet two athletes from Hereford Couriers who have just done that - Kate Morris and Clare Mallender! What's more, we surprised the...

Former shot putter and UK Athletics Vice President Mike Winch coached Judy Oakes for 25 years. During that time, Judy won three Commonwealth titles between 1982 and 1998, bringing their total number of medals in the Games between them to eight. The pair join Tom McNab and Alex Seftel to discuss their best memories and what they're currently doing in the sport to try and get a better deal for coach...

The latest episode of the Coaching Voices podcast from England Athletics features international jumps coach Frank Attoh, who has worked with established athletes such Yamile Aldama, Larry Achike, Holly Mills and Greg Rutherford. In conversation with hosts Tom McNab and Alex Seftel, Frank - who was a keen footballer, table tennis and basketball player in his youth - reminisces about getting into tr...

A panel from England Athletics reflect on the positives from the year so far and discuss key issues and priorities ahead of the outdoor season. Chair Gary Shaughnessy, Chief Executive Chris Jones and Head of Talent Development Sarah Benson join host Alex Seftel to reflect on topics such as competition, coaching, officiating and supporting athletes.

The latest episode of the Coaching Voices podcast from England Athletics features Birchfield Harriers Chair Tony Hadley, the former coach of 400m runners Derek Redmond, Phil Brown, Du'aine Ladejo and Matt Hudson-Smith. Tony provides a powerful eyewitness account of the famous moment when Derek's father Jim - who sadly passed away last October - helped his injured son to the finish line at the Barc...

Peter Stanley coached Jonathan Edwards, the world record holder in men's triple jump, for nine years. In that time they won Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles together, with Jonathan famously jumping 18.29m in Gothenburg in 1995. Peter, who got into athletics through his daughter, coached alongside a full-time job in civil engineering, before later working for UK Athletics as a Head...

This episode is a journey through the indoor season, starting with 20-year-old Keely Hodgkinson who has won medals at all four major athletics championships in the last two years. Her coach Trevor Painter also explains the environment he tries to create in training to allow her to flourish. Also this month, highlights from the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham featuring Sophie McKinn...

Until a few years ago, running was something 27-year-old Sam Harrison did just for fun and to keep fit. After joining an athletics club for the first time in 2018, her tumbling times and the guidance of her coach Vince Wilson, encouraged her to take the sport more seriously. That resulted in a first Great Britain vest in 2020, before she made England Athletics' Commonwealth Games squad for the 10,...

Olympic 400m hurdles champion and former world record holder Sally Gunnell discusses the winning mentality that powered her to global success. She opens up on pressure and the impact of becoming a star athlete. In conversation with host Alex Seftel, she also gives advice for people of all ages and abilities to get into exercise and gives her thoughts on the extraordinary times seen in her event ov...

It's awards season! A range of great athletes give their reflections as a wonderful year - highlighted by a brilliant Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games - draws to a close. European champion Alex Haydock-Wilson and Olympic medallist Katharine Merry talk about succeeding after disappointment and two-time Olympian Tom Bosworth discusses his recent retirement along with what a hypothetical Netflix se...