This Week In Athletics A New Commonwealth Games Host Has Been Found And A Brit Smashes The 24 Hour World Record

Ahmedabad to host Centennial Commonwealth Games

The Indian city of Ahmedabad has been recommended as the host of the 2030 commonwealth games by the games governing body the CGC.

 The 2030 games were scheduled to be hosted in Hamilton, Canada, the site of the first Commonwealth of 1930 to celebrate a century of the ‘Friendly Games’, however they followed the Australian state of Victoria in withdrawing in 2023 opening up the bidding process once more. 

The election of Ahmedabad in the Gujrat region of the country will bring a period of rest bite to the games in a time when its existence is more under threat than ever.

2022 saw Birmingham take over from the South African city of Durban who were stripped of the hosting rights due to an inability to showcase adequate funds in 2017. Birmingham would go on to play host to 22 sports but rising costs lead to the effective bankruptcy of Birmingham City Council in 2023.

The 2026 games were due to take place across the Australian state of Victoria but after costs ballooned to an estimated $7 billion dollars they decided to withdraw. The whole process of the bid and planning process still cost taxpayers around half a billion dollars. 

Glasgow was then selected to host their second Games in 12 years with the number of events reduced from 22 to 10 and with significant financial help from the Australian government in putting on the event with an aim of getting the games to its centenary. This time Scotstoun Stadium will be used for track and field in comparison to Hampden Park in 2014. The home Glasgow Jaguars Athletics and Glasgow Warriors Rugby Club will have a repaired track and temporary seating taking the capacity to 10,000. Commonwealth Sport

Briton Webster Smashes 24 Hour World Record

British Ultra Marathon runner Sarah Webster has broken the 24 Hour World Record running a sensational 277km on her way to victory in Albi, France. 

Webster became the third Brit to break the record in three consecutive championships. Made even more impressive that out of a stacked field of world class ultra marathon runners only four men ran further. 

The Lewes athlete and 2014 bronze medalist passed the previous record with an hour remaining and added an extra 8km to the record. 

Kesley Price (Run Head AC) finished in 4th place running 257km helping Great Britain and Northern Ireland take the team title with an incredible 766.641km covered by the team of six athletes. Athletics Weekly

NCAA Champion O’Sullivan signs with Adidas

NCAA 1500M Champion has crowned an impressive 2025 by signing for Adidas. The Irish athlete who was the European U23 Champion in 2023 also made it to the semi finals of the World Championships in Tokyo where she finished 12th in a heat including Faith Kipyegon.

O’Sullivan had represented the University of Washington over a stellar three year career in Collegiate athletics, taking the NCAA title in her final race before graduation.  Three Stripes VIA X

Sweden Propose Infrastructure Rebuild to host European Championships

The Swedish Athletics Federation has expressed interest in hosting a European Championships in the late 2030’s. The nations only track capable of hosting a championships in Gothenburg has been removed with an unclear date of when they may return. 

Weighing in on the matter on Sveridge Radio 2004 Olympic high jump champion Stefan Holm noted that it was ‘sad’ that athletes like Armand Duplantis would not be able to compete at a home championships during his career. EME News

Cape Town Marathon Cancellation Confuses Runners

Thousands of runners woke up on Sunday morning and began their preparations for the Cape Town Marathon, only to be informed while many were on their way to the start line that the event had been cancelled due to strong winds.

Many took to social media to share their frustration including many taking to the course to complete their own distances showcasing that conditions were manageable.  Abbot World Marathon Majors