First Six UK Athletes For Olympics Revealed

The first six members of the athletics squad that will represent Team GB at this summer’s Rio Olympics have been named by UK Athletics.

In the men’s marathon Derek Hawkins is included alongside younger brother Callum and Tsegai Tewelde, both of whom qualified at the London Marathon.

Alyson Dixon and Sonia Samuels also guaranteed their marathon spots in Sunday’s race in London.

Dominic King has also been selected for the 50km men’s race walk.

Callum Hawkins and Tewelde, who claimed asylum in Britain after competing for Eritrea at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, qualified as the first two Britons to cross the line in Sunday’s marathon.

Hawkins clocked a personal best time of two hours 10 minutes 52 seconds to finish eighth, while Tewelde was 12th in a time of 2:12:57 – both within the 2:14:00 qualifying time.

His brother Derek ran within the qualifying mark by clocking 2:12:57 to finish 14th and has now been awarded a discretionary place.

Dixon and Samuels, who finished 13th and 14th respectively, had already run the qualifying time of 2:37:00 in Berlin last September.

Sunderland runner Dixon tweeted: “Dreams do come true if you believe in yourself and work hard for it. I’M GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!”

King competed for Great Britain in the 50km walk at London 2012.

The selection of the six athletes takes Team GB’s total for Rio 2016 to 53 across five sports, with 11 sailors, four slalom canoeists, six shooters and 26 swimmers having already been selected.

BBC

First Six UK Athletes For Olympics Revealed

UK Athlete Switches Allegiance To Ghana

UK born sprinter, Sean Safo-Antwi has changed nationality and will represent Ghana hence after being cleared to switch allegiance from Britain to compete for his new adopted nation with immediate effect.

The 25-year-old, who won the 60 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix last month before finishing third at the British Championships, has been granted a transfer of allegiance.

Safo-Antwi asked the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in January for permission to change allegiance and the transfer was unopposed by Great Britain.

Sean can compete in either 60m, 100m or 4X100m track and in other field events.

UK Athlete Switches Allegiance To Ghana

Calorie Labels On Alcohol Products "Are Needed"

Calorie labels should be introduced on bottles and cans of alcohol, the Local Government Association has said – amid warnings that drinkers have little idea about how many calories they are consuming during a night out.

 

The organisation, which represents 370 councils and deals with public health issues, believes drinkers are ill-educated on the health effects of alcohol.

 

Although many Britons are aware that the long-term consequences of drinking include liver damage and an increased risk of cancer, few realise that their favourite tipples contain hidden “empty calories” which offer no nutritional value – fuelling the country’s obesity crisis.

 

Drinking five pints of beer over a 24-hour period is the calorific equivalent of eating more than three burgers, and it takes 90 minutes of rigorous exercise to burn it off.

 

Only 20% of the public knew there were 228 calories in a large glass of wine in a recent survey, with the rest making an incorrect guess or admitting they didn’t know the answer.

Meanwhile, just 10% were aware that a pint of lager has 180 calories.

 

Dr Sarah Jarvis told Sky News she was “amazed at how little people understand” about the calories in alcohol – and warned they are contributing considerably to weight problems in the UK.

 

“I think if people genuinely did understand how many calories they were putting into themselves it might make a difference,” she added.

 

The LGA is calling on breweries and alcohol manufacturers to “show leadership in tackling the obesity crisis” by introducing calorie labels – and has pointed to research which suggests that two-thirds of the public would support such a scheme.

Councillor Izzi Seccombe, the LGA’s community wellbeing spokesperson, said: “Prevention is the only way we are going to tackle the obesity crisis, which is costing the NHS more than £5bn a year.

“It’s all about giving people the right information about the calories they are consuming. This saves money for other parts of the public sector by reducing demand for hospital, health and social care services, and improves the public’s health.”

 

However, the LGA may face some resistance from manufacturers, as some breweries claim it takes away “too much space on the bottle” which they want to make their products look distinctive.

 

Yesterday, the Daily Mail reported that drinkers are going to be advised to cut back on alcohol for at least two days a week as part of new public health guidelines.

 

A report by chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies is expected to warn Britons that there is no “safe” alcohol limit, and even drinking small amounts could cause illnesses including cancer.

The recommended maximum daily intake for men may also be lowered to the same level as women.

 

Calorie Labels On Alcohol Products "Are Needed"