A British ‘Olympic’ Championships

by John Cushing, Feb 2025

We recorded the latest episode of the podcast this week, after Michael had spent another successful weekend at the indoor athletics in Birmingham. The UK Indoor Championships recorded the highest attendances since 1964, and after the British success at the Stade de France at the Paris Olympics in the summer, plus the Keely Klassic we covered earlier this month, it feels British Athletics is once again moving forward with momentum and this fantastic sport in the UK is too!

Just up the road in Manchester, the Lloyds National Track Cycling Championships were also taking place at the weekend, with Anna Morris breaking her own world record and former Aussie Matthew Richardson winning his first British titles - three of them! Another successful event for British Cycling which under the guidance of CEO Jon Dutton, and which has also created the new men and women’s Tour of Britain road race events, is also moving forward as a federation.

So while recording, Michael made the very good point, it was a shame these events happened at the same time, or actually couldn’t they have combined and worked together? We always laugh that there’s always an Olympics around the corner (less than a year to go to Milano as you know!) but it got us thinking, couldn’t there be more ‘Olympics’ more of the time? We also know the strength of the Team GB brand - the second most recognised and loved in the UK just behind the NHS. And we’re all trying to stay relevant and get coverage from the behemoth that is Premier League football - just look at our name!

So during so called fallow years, how about a British ‘Olympic’ Championships? Athletics, Cycling and Swimming staging events in the same Cities - Manchester? London? Birmingham? Glasgow? - across a weekend? Sport could be scheduled across the day, with swimming heats 9-11, athletics heats 11-2, cycling 2-5, swimming finals 6-8 and athletics from 7pm? The timetable could also allow the big screens in venues to show the other sports? Depending on sites, other sports - like Taekwondo or gymnastics or powerlifting - could also schedule their Championships. You know our podcast, so it goes without saying, but it should be for Para athletes too.

I’ve heard some athletes, competitors and even sports federations say ‘they’re more than Olympic sport’ and no doubt there’s a ‘rights’ issue that would have to be tackled with the new IOC President but why not embrace the fact you’re an Olympic sport, ask to make more of it that will hopefully enhance the coverage, increase following and even participation in your sport?

In this very modern world, everyone is fighting for time and space. To standstill is to stop. To move forward you have to be relevant. The Olympics is the greatest show on earth, no-one wants that to stop, but maybe we could create our own showpiece every year and continue to tell the stories of these amazing athletes all the time! We could also update our tagline - The Olympic and Paralympic Podcast covering the Games all the time - and drop the once every 4 years!