The British sprinter ran a sub-20 200m in London and now hopes to book his place on the plane to Doha

While much attention will understandably be on the likes of Zharnel Hughes and Adam Gemili at this weekend’s Müller British Athletics Championships, there is another athlete who is flying under the radar towards securing a sprint place in Doha.

Miguel Francis believes he made a statement with his 19.97 200m at last month’s Müller Anniversary Games as he continued his comeback after injury struggles and he’ll be looking to build on that in Birmingham on Sunday.

The Montserrat-born sprinter transferred his allegiance to Britain in 2017 and hopes to represent the nation at the IAAF World Championships in Qatar later this year in both the half-lap event and relay.

His UK-leading time clocked when finishing runner up behind Xie Zhenye of China’s 19.88 Asian record in London ranks him equal third on the British all-time list alongside Gemili, behind only John Regis and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, though he has a faster PB of 19.88 – just 0.01 off the British record – which he ran in 2016.

“After what I have been through, to come back and run 19 seconds, that should be a statement, definitely,” said Francis, who works with Glen Mills, coach of sprints great Usain Bolt, in Jamaica as part of the Racers Track Club.

“My training over the past six weeks, I’ve been feeling really good, really strong,” added the 24-year-old, speaking with AW last month after his sub-20 second run in London.

“I knew the type of shape I was in but I wasn’t 100 per cent confident in myself because I was coming off a few injuries. To run sub-20, I’m really pleased with that.”

Francis represented Antigua & Barbuda at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 world championships having moved there with his family when he was a few months old after a volcanic eruption on his home Caribbean island.

But the Wolverhampton & Bilston athlete, who has family in the West Midlands of England, was eligible for a transfer to GB with his birthplace being a British overseas territory and his focus is now on the British Championships and securing a place on the team bound for Doha.

“I’m feeling really good,” said Francis, who has had surgeries on his right ankle and knee in the past couple of years. “My confidence level was just not here because I’ve hardly been competing. This is my first race since May, my first 200m since April.

“I’ve been seeing everybody else running their fast times and to come out here and run fast, it’s a confidence boost and I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Sport England team up with medical profession to launch Active Charter
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor

Squash clubs have an amazing opportunity to play a leading role in delivering community health benefits .

 As part of the advice given to clubs who take part in World Squash Day, I have been encouraging the leaders in our sport to think about how best to market the health benefits of playing squash and racketball.

These benefits are well documented on an international level, and therefore fit perfectly with the global target of attracting one million new players to the sport over the next decade (or sooner).

Most nations experience similar health issues, with one third of all children now reaching the age of 11 showing signs of obesity.

This is clearly reaching epidemic proportions, as is the problem of adults failing to take any exercise at all when they reach their 40s and 50s and become prone to diabetes, heart disease and all the other issues associated with obesity.

This is where racketball comes in. I recently assisted in a project at Canterbury Squash Club in Kent designed to encourage people of 70-plus years (now known as U3A) to enjoy regular forays on to the squash court. They clearly found racketball easier to engage with than squash and all enjoyed the experience.

All squash clubs need to provide fun sessions aimed at that mid-life age bracket and encourage them to become more active before the rot sets in.

I know of several squash coaches who offer fitness classes for individuals who are recovering from strokes. Again, this is fantastic, groundbreaking stuff.

What the game needs to do is cement partnerships with the medical profession and begin dialogues with hospital and medical centres to find funding for delivering community health projects.

On a similar theme, Sport England have teamed up with the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) to launch the Active Practice Charter.

The charter inspires and celebrates GP practices that are taking steps to increase activity in their patients and staff.

Sport England claim that one in four people surveyed have confirmed that they would be more active if such a policy was recommended by a GP or nurse, and the charter includes a toolkit that will support GPs to raise the subject of activity with patients and achieve Active Practice status.

Sport England chief executive, Tim Hollingsworth, welcomed the charter’s introduction, saying: “Physical activity has a key role to play in helping people manage and improve their health and wellbeing.

“As trusted sources of information, GPs and practice teams have a real opportunity to start discussions that help it become the new normal in their community – for prevention as well as treatment.”

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Henry Repeating Arms, an American manufacturer of classic rifles and shotguns, will sponsor NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Cole Custer this weekend at Road America.

Named after Benjamin Tyler Henry, who invented and patented the Henry rifle in 1860, Henry Repeating Arms has two manufacturing facilities – one in Bayonne, N.J., and the other in Rice Lake, Wis., located approximately 290 miles northwest of Road America.

“Road America is a home race for us and we partnered with Cole Custer because of his success this season and because of the strong relationship we have with Haas Automation,” said Anthony Imperato, president and owner, Henry Repeating Arms. “We use made-in-America Haas CNC machine tools to manufacture our products, all of which come with a lifetime guarantee backed by our award-winning customer service.”

Custer is having a career year, leading the Xfinity Series with five wins and five poles. The victories have placed the 21-year-old from Ladera Ranch, Calif., into the NASCAR playoffs for the third straight season.

“We’re enjoying a lot of success on the track and moments like this are how we win off the track,” Custer said. “Henry Repeating Arms is a great customer of Haas Automation and we’re extremely proud to be representing them at Road America.”

Custer has made two career Xfinity Series starts at Road America, finishing in the top-10 each time. His best result at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course is fourth, earned in last year’s race.

“In road-course racing, the competition is more on the driver’s shoulders compared to your traditional oval-styled track,” Custer said. “You’re on the edge of your seat for the entire race, and even the smallest mistake can take you out of the race. I enjoy road-course racing and challenging my skills as a driver. I learned a lot in last year’s race at Road America and I’m looking forward to getting back there in my Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang will feature a special paint scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, honoring Jimmy Means’ No. 52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac.

Means drove the iconic powder blue car in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In its early days, Front Row Motorsports was originally known as Means-Jenkins Motorsports, stemming from a partnership between Means and current Front Row Motorsports team owner Bob Jenkins. Their relationship began with Jenkins sponsoring Means at Bristol with his local Taco Bell franchise, which led Jenkins to a partial ownership of Means’ race team. The team was active for one year before Jenkins separated and founded Front Row Motorsports.

McDowell’s No. 34 Ford will feature the famous light blue body with red and dark blue accents. Front Row Motorsports partner Dockside Logistics will serve as the primary sponsor for the race.

“Throwback weekend at Darlington is one of my favorites of the whole year,” McDowell said. “It’s fun to recreate some of the most well-known paint schemes throughout the history of our sport. Our owner, Bob Jenkins, has always admired Jimmy Means, and the Alka-Seltzer car is definitely a favorite of his. I’m really excited that we can honor their friendship with our No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford.”

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for another edition of the SPEED SPORT Power Rankings. There is a new name at the top of the Rankings again this week! Who is it? Click below to find out.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Corey LaJoie will be piloting more than just the No. 32 Ford Mustang when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27.

Go Fas Racing sponsor Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net will transform their usual paint scheme into a Scooby-Doo inspired Mystery Machine for the First Data 500, less than a week before Halloween.

“Scooby Doo was my favorite cartoon growing up, so when Tom and T.J. asked what I wanted to do for Martinsville, there was no doubt that I wanted to be driving the Mystery Machine,” said LaJoie. “They always have really cool themes behind their Halloween-weekend schemes and I’m excited to be part of this one and thankful for all that they do for our team.”

This will be the second year that the Corvette parts supplier has converted their sponsorship of the No. 32 at the October Martinsville event into a unique, eye-catching masterpiece – in celebration of Halloween.

Last fall, the Ohio-based company brought a purple and black Peanuts scheme that showcased one of the most recognizable characters known, Snoopy. The scheme instantly became a favorite by fans of all ages.

“We are super excited to present this paint scheme to Corey to run at Martinsville,” said longtime friend and sponsor of the team, T.J. Keen. “This cartoon was his favorite as a kid and I bet it still is today.  We cannot thank the team enough for letting us do these schemes and we hope you fans will enjoy it.”