CK Updates
Keely Hodgkinson: How Olympic champion broke indoor 800m world record
Since 2019, Hodgkinson has trained with coaches Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows in Manchester.
Meadows, a former international runner, was in France to watch her protege take almost a second off the 800m indoor record, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak almost 24 years ago.
“She actually said to me the day before: ‘obviously I know I’m going to get it’,” said Meadows.
“There had been so many benchmarks we measure in training, we had no doubt that she would do it.
“Her biggest fear was to set a world record, but be disappointed with the time. She said ‘what if I can’t smile? What if I’ve got the world record, and everyone’s so excited, and I think, oh that was rubbish. I could have gone faster’?”
The date – 19 February 2026 – had long been set in the diary by Meadows and Hodgkinson given the track in Lievin is notoriously fast.
“Lievin has had a lot of world records over the years, and we kind of thought ‘you know what, let’s go with the statistics’,” Meadows said.
“We’re only probably going to get one opportunity during this indoor season to go for it. So that’s the event that we picked, and that’s the date we’ve really had etched in our minds the last three months.”
“I’ve got to say, the time she did was the bare minimum of what she was happy with,” Meadows added.
“She definitely would have liked to run faster, and there was definitely half a second, maybe even up to one second in those legs.”
CK Updates
Stephen Fleming: England appoint former New Zealand captain as Test coach, with Joe Root captain
Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has been appointed as England Test coach, with Joe Root returning as captain.
Fleming, 53, has never previously worked as head coach of a national team but he led Chennai Super Kings to a record five Indian Premier League titles during his 17-year tenure as head coach.
Previous Test coach Brendon McCullum was fired earlier this month following a string of poor results and several off-field incidents, but remains in charge of England’s white-ball sides.
Root, 35, whose first spell as Test captain was between 2017 and 2022, captained England to a record 27 Test wins in 65 matches.
Fleming said he was “incredibly excited” to be taking on the role as Test coach.
“It’s one of the most prestigious coaching positions in world cricket and I am honoured to be appointed,” he added.
Fleming will not be in charge for the Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 19 August. Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will be the interim head coach.
Fleming will spend time with his family in New Zealand before flying to the UK later this summer to begin preparations for the South Africa Test tour in December.
Root said taking on the captain’s role alongside Fleming was a “huge motivator”.
He added: “[Fleming] has proved over a long period of time that he is an exceptional leader with a great knowledge of the game, and I am looking forward to working with him and helping to build a winning environment.”
Fleming called Root a “generational talent who has achieved so much already”, adding: “I’m excited to support him so he can enjoy and thrive in the role in what is a different context to his first stint.”
Fleming, who retired as a player in 2009, has a wealth of experience in Test cricket as a player, making 111 appearances for New Zealand, scoring 7,172 runs at 40.06, and remains the Black Caps’ most successful captain with 28 wins from 80 matches.
He also spent time in England in the county game, playing for Middlesex, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire – where he won the County Championship in 2005.
“Of course, the ambition is always to win now. But equally, it’s about ensuring the team is well placed for the medium and long-term future,” said Fleming.
“There is a lot of young talent in and around the team and our aim is to help them fulfil their potential as world-class cricketers.”
CK Updates
Commonwealth Games 2026: Aziz Abdul, grandson of Idi Amin, disqualified for headbutt in Glasgow
Before the super-heavyweight bout Abdul told the BBC he wanted to become the new ‘King of Scotland’ – in reference to Amin declaring himself that name in 1976.
After taking power in a coup in 1971, Amin ran a brutal regime during which an estimated half a million people were killed. He was also known as the Butcher of Uganda.
Abdul, who never met his grandfather, was chasing Uganda’s first Commonwealth boxing medal since Auckland in 1990 – something which would have been guaranteed had he beaten Thomas.
Instead, he was given warnings in the previous two rounds and was trailing on all of the judges’ scorecards.
“All I can say about this is the decision is not right, I am not happy,” he said.
“He elbowed me. He caught me with the elbow.
“It [the head movement] was not intentional. I was trying to come back.
“How can I headbutt someone? I would not.
“He was the person they wanted to win. He was the winner before.
“I knew if I did not get knockout I could not win the fight.”
BBC Sport has contacted Commonwealth Games organisers and World Boxing for a response to Abdul’s comments.
Thomas, who is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal, said it was “not the way” he wanted to win.
“I can’t change what happened today but I can control how I box on Friday,” he said.
Amin, himself a boxer, harboured a fascination with Scotland after serving in the King’s African Rifles in his 20s.
At the height of the regime, he was fond of wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes – and even declared himself “King of Scotland” in 1976.
Some years later, those predilections even spawned an Oscar-winning film, The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy.
In a previous interview, Abdul said he was “inspired” by Amin, although it was not entirely clear whether he was talking about his boxing feats or not.
Speaking to the BBC, he refused to answer when asked if he was proud to be the dictator’s grandson, but he did address the question of how he feels when he is linked to someone with such a sinister reputation.
CK Updates
Commonwealth Games 2026: Scotland claim eight medals in five chaotic hours as Games hit halfway
After a relatively quiet day, the first medal was claimed by the men’s 3×3 basketball team just before 17:00 BST.
A couple of hours later, three more followed in the space of five minutes.
The women’s wheelchair 3×3 basketball team took silver; Evans added her second gold – and third medal – of the Games in the 200m breaststroke; then Woods claimed gold in the women’s T54 1500m.
Shaw then joined in with bronze in the women’s S9 100m freestyle before MacInnes was edged into second place in the women’s 200m butterfly to take her second individual silver of the meet.
Around the same time, MacKenzie was leaping to long jump bronze, before the haul was completed in the pool when Evans and MacInnes teamed up with Katie Shanahan and Evie Davis to take silver in the women’s 4x100m medley.
Three more further medals are guaranteed in boxing – with fighters in semi-final action on Friday – while further prospects remain in athletics, bowls, cycling, judo and weightlifting.
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CK Updates13 hours agoCommonwealth Games 2026: Scotland claim eight medals in five chaotic hours as Games hit halfway
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CK Updates7 hours agoCommonwealth Games 2026: Aziz Abdul, grandson of Idi Amin, disqualified for headbutt in Glasgow

