Coverage of the MK5000 PB Special at Milton Keynes, incorporating the England Athletics 5000m Championships

Jessica Judd and Ben Bradley won the elite races at the MK5000 PB Special at Milton Keynes to claim the English titles.

In good conditions of light rain and relatively cool weather after the midweek heatwave with not too much wind, athletes lived up to the PB title of the event with 11 of the 12 race winners setting PBs.

The one exception was Judd but she was probably the most impressive winner of the night.

With a superb last kilo around 2:50 world university champion Jessica Judd wins England 5000m Champs from Louise Small and Nicole Taylor @mk5000pbspecial pic.twitter.com/J42Mvw1wHn

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 27, 2019

Jennifer Walsh set a 15:30 pace but the other runners ignored it and she ran the first five laps alone as the pack ran at 15:50 pace.

The pace continued through 3km in 9:30 but the fourth kilometre slowed as they went through in 12:48.

Louise Small made the first move and took Judd away but the World University Games champion took off on the penultimate lap and covering the last kilometre in 2:49, she won in 15:37.38.

READ MORE: Jess Judd wins World University Games gold

Small took the silver medal in 15:48.39, holding off a late kick by Nicole Taylor who ran a PB 15:49.25.

Bradley won the men’s title but for most of the race he was well off the pace.

James West was the pacemaker and he led through 3km in 8:12 and only Jack Gray was able to go with the 13:40 pace. After West dropped out at two miles, Gray began to slow and his nearest pursuers Mohamed Mohamed and 10,000m champion Adam Hickey gradually closed.

In an exciting finish Ben Bradley wins English title in PB 13:56 from Mohamed Mohamed with John Sanderson putting a dive in for third after Jack Gray had led most of the race @mk5000pbspecial pic.twitter.com/0BVsNaxCLk

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 27, 2019

However, it was Aldershot’s Bradley who came from well back in the chasing pack who proved the strongest in the final kilometre and on the last lap and he won in a PB 13:57.33 for the race victory of his life, though he was treading water in the finishing straight, having kicked from some way back.

Mohamed of Hillingdon rallied strongly to take the England silver in 13:57.84 with John Sanderson throwing himself across the line to take bronze in a PB 13:58.73, three hundredths of a second ahead of Hickey. Gray finished sixth.

READ MORE: Sam Stabler’s double with a difference

In an earlier race Clare Elms improved her British W55 record to 17:42.99.

Ahead of her, Caroline Hoyte was eight seconds outside the British W45 record with 17:09.08.

Overall the event was a huge success with multiple PBs, enthusiastic crowds lining the track and the beer and food stalls doing a roaring trade – so much so that lager and some of the food stalls ran out well before the championship races that climaxed the meeting.

Elsewhere, there was further 5000m track action taking place at Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden Stadium and there the winners of the 5000m Track Challenge elite races were Mohamud Aadan in 13:56.37 and Naomi Taschimowitz in 16:06.06.

Results from the final 4 races of the day. Full list of results are now available at https://t.co/SLAJvZEisN …. with 71% of runners setting a new PERSONAL BEST! pic.twitter.com/KrdyWaCu69

— The 5000m Track Challenge (@Track_Challenge) July 28, 2019

A list of 45 candidates seek election to the IAAF Council in various roles

Seb Coe is set to be re-elected unopposed as the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) but there will be strong competition for a number of other positions on the IAAF Council.

The IAAF has announced a list of 45 candidates from across the globe who have put themselves forward for election to the international federation’s governing board.

The candidates seek election into 18 positions on the Council at the IAAF Congress on September 25, two days ahead of the World Championships in Doha.

READ MORE: Seb Coe elected as IAAF president

Those 18 positions include one president, four vice-president and 13 individual member roles.

Of those four vice-presidents, at least one must be female.

In addition to the 18 positions there will be six area presidents, who have already been elected, and two members of the athletes’ commission (one female and one male) who will be elected by the commission in November, making a total of 26 IAAF Council members.

The IAAF advised that a focus on increasing the gender balance on the Council, with the areas conducting gender leadership seminars, has seen a 10% increase in female candidates.

There are three women, including 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medallist Ximena Restrepo of Colombia, among the 11 candidates seeking election as vice-presidents.

Ukraine’s 1988 Olympic pole vault gold medallist Sergey Bubka also hopes to be re-elected as a vice-president. He was unsuccessful in his bid to become president when he stood against Coe four years ago.

“We have a strong list of candidates from 44 countries applying for IAAF Council positions which demonstrates the global strength of our sport,” said Coe.

“I am particularly pleased that almost 40% of the individual candidates are female, something we have seen reflected across our area elections, with four of our areas electing a female vice-president.”

The full list of IAAF Council candidates can be downloaded here.

Pole vaulter moves to No.2 on the outdoor all-time list, while DeAnna Price sets American hammer record

A superb performance by Sam Kendricks at the USA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, saw him clear an American pole vault record of 6.06m to move to second on the world outdoor all-time list.

It puts him No.3 on the global all-time rankings combining both indoor and outdoor performances, behind Renaud Lavillenie (6.16m) and Sergey Bubka (6.15m), with only Bubka with 6.14m having cleared higher than Kendricks outdoors.

Reigning world champion Kendricks, who already had his place for the IAAF World Championships in Doha secured, claimed his sixth consecutive US title after a perfect record which saw him clear heights from 5.46m through to 5.91m on his first attempts.

He had the competition won with his 5.81m clearance but raised the bar to the record height and managed it on his second attempt before his fellow vaulters joined him in celebration.

A new American Record calls for a dog pile on @samkendricks ? 6.06m!! ? pic.twitter.com/MLohsI7nIM

— Sandi Morris, OLY?? (@sandicheekspv) July 27, 2019

Cole Walsh was second and KC Lightfoot third as they both cleared 5.76m. Zach Bradford in fourth (5.71m) also made the team for Doha.

Another American record was broken by DeAnna Price as she threw 78.24m to improve on her previous hammer best of 78.12m.

The top four athletes all threw beyond 75m, with Gwen Berry second after a 76.46m best, Brooke Andersen third with 75.30m and Maggie Ewen fourth with a PB of 75.04m.

Fred Kerley claimed the men’s 400m win as he clocked a PB of 43.64 to move to No.7 on the world all-time list.

Michael Norman, who sits fifth on that all-time list with his PB of 43.45, finished second in 43.79, while Nathan Strother was third in 44.29.

Vernon Norwood was fourth in a PB of 44.40, while Paralympic medallist and double amputee Blake Leeper clocked 44.48 in fifth.

READ MORE: Christian Coleman and Teahna Daniels win 100m at US Champs

The women’s 400m final saw Shakima Wimbley retain her title in 50.21 as Allyson Felix, just eight months after having her first child, finished sixth in 51.94 to put her in the running for a 4x400m relay place at the World Championships in Doha, which would be her 13th global championships.

The 100m hurdles title was won by world record-holder Keni Harrison as she clocked 12.44 ( -1.2m/sec) ahead of Nia Ali (12.55) and Brianna McNeal (12.61), while Rai Benjamin clocked 47.23 to win the men’s 400m hurdles.

Brittney Reese won her eighth US long jump title with a leap of 7.00m and Vashti Cunningham claimed the high jump title with a 1.96m clearance.

A total of five athletes broke 4:04 in the 1500m, led by Shelby Houlihan in 4:03.18 as Jenny Simpson ran 4:03.41 for the runner-up spot to continue her feat of having made every world or Olympic team since 2007.

Hillary Bor clocked 8:18.05 to win the steeplechase, while Michael Shuey threw a PB of 82.85m to take the javelin title, winning by a single centimetre.

Coverage of day one and day two action can be found here, while results are here.

American teenage sensation Coco Gauff returned to court for the first time since her memorable Wimbledon run with a win in Washington Open qualifying.

The 15-year-old, who beat Venus Williams on her way to the last 16 at the All England Club, won 6-4 6-2 against fellow American Maegan Manasse.

Gauff will next play either eighth seed Hiroko Kuwata of Japan or fellow American Maria Sanchez.

Another win will see Gauff reach the third main draw of her career.

Although now ranked 143rd in the world after her Wimbledon exploits, she was unsure whether she would even get into Washington qualifying because she had to use her pre-Wimbledon ranking of 313th to gain entry.

Gauff was the youngest woman to reach the second week of Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati in 1991.

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Will Power kicked his recent bad luck to the curb by winning the pole for the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 on Saturday afternoon at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Power’s fast time of 1:05.1569 for a speed of 124.757 mph was the 57th NTT IndyCar Series pole in Power’s career.

When told that he was first, Power let out a wicked scream that could be heard over his radio communication.

“I was sticking it to the year,” Power said. “There you go. Take that one off me.

“I literally nailed every sector. Yeah, wasn’t a sector… I’d be surprised if there was a sector that I wasn’t P1 in. If there is, I’d be really disappointed.

“After the year we’ve had, even the last couple of weeks we’ve had, it’s been bloody terrible. Couple mistakes by me. Very determined to get pole here. I’m equally so to win the race.

“I’m just happy. I think it beats you down a bit when you have constant bad runs, things just don’t flow your way. Mistakes by myself, that sort of thing, so…

“There’s always a turning point. That’s the good news. When you have a bad race, the good news is there’s a good chance the next one will be good. If that’s no good, the next one will be good. If 10 of them, like mine, haven’t been good, the next one is definitely going to be good.”

Power’s performance denied Alexander Rossi a perfect day. Earlier on Saturday, Andretti Autosport announced Rossi had signed a contract extension to stay with the team for at least the next three years. The team also extended its contract with Honda for the next four years.

Rossi had just completed two increasingly fast laps with his fast time of 1:05.5317 (124.044 mph), putting him on the pole as the checkered flag waved.

Power was still on the track, however, and when he was the last car to turn in a timed lap, it was the fastest.

“I think ultimately we came up short, through Will just got pretty clever there, did two laps on a set of tires, but didn’t push on the first lap,” Rossi said. “He had I think a bit longer tire life. Good job to them.

“I think our car is really good. I think it’s probably the strongest car on the primary tire, which is obviously good for tomorrow. We’ll have to go out and try and get the lead early and see what we can do from there.”

Team Penske’s other two drivers were third and fourth with Josef Newgarden’s 1:05.7885 (123.560 mph) and Simon Pagenaud’s 1:05.7885 (123.358 mph), respectively.

Sebastien Bourdais was fifth at 1:06.2040 (122.784 mph) with rookie Felix Rosenqvist’s Honda rounding out the Fast Six at 1:06.4914 (122.253 mph).

“I thought we definitely would have it based at that point based on what guys did on their first run,” Rossi said of his fast time. “The car was great. We were on for a similar lap. I had a pretty big slide in turn four and five. I think we just ran out of tire. We’ll have to look at that.

“You’re always disappointed if you miss it by one or two hundredths because there’s a lot of things you can look back on the lap, things you could have done differently. Once there’s a gap of that size, it’s okay.”

Power will be looking for his first victory of the season when the field takes the green flag on Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“It’s just typical of me,” Power said. “I just want to win. I just think you can’t think about winning, honestly. That may have been my mistake the last few races. You get a bit desperate to get a win.

“You just got to take what it gives you simply. You just can’t make those little mistakes at the end of races like I have the last two weeks.”

CLEVELAND -- Thanks to Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, "I woke up feeling dangerous" has become the unofficial maxim for the city of Cleveland.

Now, the mantra is on a downtown mural.

Artist Jason Tetlak, who holds the Guinness record for the largest 3D mural, painted Mayfield's catchphrase on a metal shipping container near FirstEnergy Stadium and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Mayfield's name, revealed through a red filter, is hidden within the mural itself.

Tetlak, a lifelong Browns fan, said he got Mayfield's permission for the art piece before starting on it this weekend. After a big game as a rookie last season, Mayfield famously said, "when I woke up this morning, I was feeling pretty dangerous."

The phrase has since appeared on T-shirts and signs throughout Northeast Ohio. Now it's a mural, too.

"This energy is building here," said Tetlak, who now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, but attends Browns watch parties. "We're all kind of waking up feeling dangerous this season."

Home pair Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid lost in the men's doubles final at the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships, while Jordanne Whiley also suffered defeat in the women's.

Hewett and Reid lost 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5 to fourth seeds Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda in Nottingham.

Britain's Whiley and her Japanese partner Yui Kamiji lost to Aniek van Koot and Diede de Groot in their final.

The Dutch duo battled to a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory.

Britain's Andy Lapthorne plays Niels Vink of the Netherlands in the quad singles final on Sunday.

Home favourite Alexander Zverev missed out on his first Hamburg Open final as defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili fought back from facing two match points to edge an epic semi-final.

Georgian fourth seed Basilashvili recovered to win 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5) in three hours and seven minutes.

Basilashvili, 27, will face Russian Andrey Rublev, who beat Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, in Sunday's final.

Hamburg-born Zverev led 5-3 in the decider but could not take his chances.

World number five Zverev, whose split with coach Ivan Lendl was announced by the eight-time Grand Slam winner before Friday's quarter-final win against Serbia's Filip Krajinovic, was aiming to reach his third final in 2019.

Instead it is Basilashvili who will take on 21-year-old Rublev for the clay-court title.

Rublev, who caused an upset against Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem in the last eight, trailed by a set and a break before winning 11 of the final 13 games to seal a 4-6 7-5 6-1 victory over Carreno Busta.