Sports


Volleyball interviewing for new coach

 

OCTOBER 19 - THE British Volleyball Federation (BVF) have been busy interviewing prospective candidates to oversee preparations for the 2012 Olympics from the 120 applications received.


Maw to leave British Triathlon

 

altOCTOBER 20 - GRAEME MAW (pictured) is to leave as the performance director of British Triathlon after six years only a few weeks after British triathletes won five world titles in eight days.

 

It is believed the split is acrimonious but no reasons are being given for his departure. But Maw's resignation follows the imposition of a three-month ban last month on the world champion, Tim Don, for missing three drugs tests.

 

The 42-year-old Maw joined British Triathlon in 2001 having previously been the high performance manager for swimming at the Queensland Academy of Sport in Australia.  A graduate of Loughborough University, Maw had studied exercise physiology in the USA and Australia.  He gained a PhD at the University of Wollongong and was a recognised sports scientist and performance analyst.

 

His programmes have been hugely successful in nurturing young talent through to world class performance with a number of 2012 hopefuls emerging from the programme this last two years including Will Clarke, Ollie Freeman, Alistair Brownlee, Helen Tucker, and Vanessa Raw.

 

“British Triathlon has a strong Olympic squad in place not just for Beijing 2008 Games but also for London 2012," said Maw. " After six years in post and after the successes of this year, I feel this is the appropriate time to step aside to allow a successor to work with the squad through to Beijing and then to build on this experience to London 2012."

 

Norman Brook  the chief executive of British Triathlon said: “Graeme has been instrumental in establishing a truly World Class performance pathway and coaching network for British Triathlon.  His work came to such emphatic fruition in sweeping the men’s titles at this year’s World Championships in Lausanne. This was the second time in his term that Britain could lay claim to the title of World’s best nation.”






World triathlon title for shocked Brownlee

 

altSEPTEMBER 2 - BRITAIN'S Alistair Brownlee today won the gold medal in the junior race at the World Triathlon Championships in Lausanne. "I thought I might have a chance of a medal but I didn't expect this," he said.


Another two world triathlon titles for Britain

 

altSEPTEMBER 3 - BRITAIN'S remarkable weekend of success at the World Triathlon Championships in Lausanne continued today when Tim Don won the senior's men title and Will Clarke claimed gold in the under-23 event, making it a clean sweep for Britain's men.



New UK Athletics role could fit Coe

 

altSEPTEMBER 4 - SEBASTIAN COE (pictured) is the favourite to be given the role of chairman after UK Athletics announced today the creation of the new post to work alongside the next chief executive who will replace David Moorcroft.




Victories for Britains basketball teams

 

altSEPTEMBER 9 - BRITAIN'S men and women's basketball players today both recorded their first vicotires in the European Championship qualifying tournaments.

 

The men bounced from their defeat in Slovakia last week to beat Holland 63-39 at Meadowbank in Edinburgh and the women beat Estonia 72-66 in Tallin. Julius Joseph (pictured) led the scoring for the men with 15 points while Stefanie Collins and Rosalee Mason each notched up 17 points for the women.

 

The win for the men means GB can travel to Albania for Wednesday's qualifier knowing that a win in their last two game this season will give them at least a share of the Group B lead.

 

"We've got a tough week- I like the way that our schedule has fallen, but we just have to take advantage of it," said Chris Finch, the men's head coach.

 

Like the men, the women are hoping to prove themselves worthy of the automatic place they are entitled to at the 2012 Olympics.




Mixed fortunes for Britain's basketball teams

 

altSEPTEMBER 16 - KRISTY LAVIN (pictured) scored 22 points and Sally Kaznicawas successful on four of eight three-point shots as Britain's women cruised by Luxembourg72-50 in Cardiff tonight to remain undefeated in the first leg of their European Championships qualification round.But Britain’s men completed the first leg of their European qualification round with a loss to Belarus, 69-68, at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge International Sports Centre.

The women's game, held at the Welsh Institute of Sport, was controlled by the hosts for nearly the entire duration with Luxembourg’s only lead ending at the six minute mark of the first quarter when Lavin hit a three giving GB a 7-5 lead. 

Britain's head coach, Mark Clark, was able to give all 12 players valuable court time in the win, 11 of whom added points to the final tally.

With two games out of the way, GB now ready themselves for the group’s two strongest teams in the competition so far, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Portugal. 

They face Bosnia-Herzegovina, also undefeated, in Sarajevo on Wednesday evening and then round out the first leg on Saturday against Portugal at Nottingham’s Wildcats Arena. 

It was a heartbreaking loss for Britain's menin front of their home fans in a game that came down to the last shot; unfortunately for the hosts, that shot did not fall.

Guard NateReinkingconnected on a three-point shot with less than a minute remaining to bring Great Britainwithin a point of Belarus, 69-68. 

Intense British defense then saw Belarus run out the 24 second shot clock twice in a row and with 7.7 seconds remaining, GB head coach Chris Finch called a time-out to prepare for the game’s final play. 

With Reinking marked tightly by a Belarus defender, the ball ended up in the hands of veteran Roger Huggins and the game’s high scorer, Andrew Sullivan, for the final two shots, both of which were contested and failed to find the bottom of the net.

"They [Belarus] capitalised on our mistakes and we just couldn’t get a break when we needed it," said GB head coach Chris Finch.

"There’s still a lot left to be played and we have a year to prepare.  I'm happy with the overall performance during the four games."

Britain finish the first leg of the European Qualifiers with a two-win, two-loss record and now wait for the second leg, which commences in September 2007.