05/07/2020
Sporting events are just beginning to emerge from lockdown. And so is with great pleasure that we can report that British Athletics are taking a stand for Pride month and have also been developing an Athletics Pride Network during the period that sporting life was in temporary retirement. UK Athletics is the National Governing Body for athletics. UKA is the Member Federation of the IAAF responsible for athletics in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. Compared to some sports, athletics in the UK is said to be more welcoming of LGBTQ people, more tolerant, and more celebratory of the achievements of a varied athletic community. To mark Pride, a group of LGBTQ athletes joined together for a video networking chat, which has been made available via the British Athletics OnLine TV Service. The forty five minute piece touches on a wide range of issues relevant to LGBTQ people in sport and is illuminating for those of us who are not engaged in competitive sports too. Olympian, Tom Bosworth, moderated the discussion which includes Ethan Akanni – the 2019 British Athletics Indoor Championships 60m hurdles bronze medallist; Andy Paul – coach at Birchfield Harriers, and Susie O’Connor – a grassroots runner at London Frontrunners and Wimbledon Windmilers. You can find the video at https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/
