Ben Bloom
@benbloomsport
Followers
8K
Following
18
Media
441
Statuses
5K
Freelance sports journalist, formerly at the Telegraph. Author of 'Batting for Time'. Buy the book here: https://t.co/UGm7CDp4SX
Joined November 2011
Men = 100/100.Women = 0/100. For the first time ever since Forbes started compiling the world's 100 highest paid sportspeople, there is not a single woman in the list. Not one. What a damning indictment of the enormous disparity between men/women's sport.
407
3K
6K
Caster Semenya: “I am very disappointed, but refuse to let World Athletics drug me or stop me from being who I am. Excluding female athletes or endangering our health solely because of our natural abilities puts World Athletics on the wrong side of history.".
Caster Semenya has lost her appeal against World Athletics at the Swiss Supreme Court. As things stand, she will not be able to compete over 800m at the Tokyo Olympics unless she takes testosterone-lowering medication.
27
2K
5K
This could be big. World Athletics scientists admit the findings behind their testosterone rules might be "misleading" and the evidence was only "exploratory". Caster Semenya's lawyers ask why this wasn't revealed before she was banned from the Olympics.
65
2K
3K
Lifetime ambition accomplished. 122 screamers, volleys, headers, slices, scuffs, curlers, backheels, Panenkas and toe-pokes scored. And so many missed.
39
224
3K
Sadly, while I was on paternity leave the Telegraph decided they no longer need an athletics correspondent nor my services covering other sports. So, after a great 11 years, my time there is up. Let’s see what the future holds.
189
70
2K
1. Just look how far out he launches the dive. 2. The face plant at the end. What a face plant. 3. His name is Infinite Tucker. His actual name.
42
427
2K
Last month Nike decided to drop Holly Bradshaw after nine years, so she now has no sponsor. Today she beat the Olympic/world champion and produced the second best vault of her life. Not a bad way to respond.
20
164
1K
Laura Muir's last 24 hours:.- Wake up and go to work at an animal hospital. - Try and fail to get multiple flights from Glasgow to Birmingham because of snow. - Take a seven-hour, 300-mile taxi instead. - Win world indoor 3,000m bronze. Easy, really.
13
280
1K
Big news for athletics fans in Britain: the BBC has secured the rights to show every Diamond League live (on TV, online and radio) for the next four years.
26
108
1K
Keely Hodgkinson in February: "It would be silly not to try and qualify for the Olympics, but I really would like to win European juniors.". Keely Hodgkinson in August: Wins Olympic 800m silver and breaks Kelly Holmes' 26-year-old British record.
6
98
1K
Fred Kerley was two years old when, with his dad in jail and his mum taking “wrong turns in life”, he moved to be raised by his aunt. 13 children in one bedroom. On Saturday, he won world 100m gold to lead an American medal clean sweep.
19
142
1K
Despite the lack of big names, the British Athletics Championships peaked at 1.4 million viewers on BBC2 at 8.25pm Friday - more than BBC1 and ITV at the same time.
28
101
1K
Holly Bradshaw's lesson in resilience:. 2012 Olympics: 6th.2015 Worlds: 7th.2016 Olympics: 5th.2017 Worlds: 6th .* Dropped by her sponsor *.2019 Worlds: 4th.2021 Olympics: Bronze.
9
99
987
This is horrendous. A famous Japanese musician has kept his job as composer for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony despite describing how he bullied mentally-ill classmates into eating their own faeces and masturbating in front of other students.
23
938
988
Karsten Warholm's 400m hurdles world record (45.94 seconds) would have won him gold at this year's British Championships. over the flat 400m.
12
128
941
Dina Asher-Smith’s 200m winning time of 21.88 seconds would have been good enough for gold at 13 of the 17 World Championships. Decent response to anyone who suggests it was a soft victory.
9
114
907
What this? Oh, just a Usain Bolt press conference. Nothing to see here.
12
364
879
Caster Semenya has lost her appeal against World Athletics at the Swiss Supreme Court. As things stand, she will not be able to compete over 800m at the Tokyo Olympics unless she takes testosterone-lowering medication.
64
275
718
Kyle Langford was ranked 46th in the world going into World Champs. Missed 800m medal by 0.04sec. Talk about punching above your weight. .
9
164
682
10.78, 10.82, 10.84, 10.91, 10.95, 10.96. in the HEATS of the women's Olympic 100m. And half of them weren't even sprinting to the line. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
13
136
682
The 2019 World Athletics Championships giving a lesson in what happens when you take a sport to Qatar. Upper tier covered up, boxes empty, middle tier covered up, lower tier 20% full. Bet the athletes can’t wait to compete in the pinnacle of their sport.
51
230
650
The 800 metres is the best event in athletics and I refuse to accept any different opinions.
41
57
646
Asked Joshua Cheptegei why the first thing he did after breaking the 5,000m world record - at a high-profile and impeccably-recorded competition - was stop his own watch.
12
97
609
“No one knows who I am. I’m just a club runner. I don’t even have my name on my bib.”. What a story. Ellis Cross was denied a place in the elite field so paid his own £37 entry fee, took the train to the start line. and beat Mo Farah.
9
66
578
Obviously Jakob Ingebrigtsen has just won European 5000m gold a day after 1500m gold. Obviously. I mean, what the fuck else would you expect of the most ridiculous 17-year-old athletics has ever seen??? HE. IS. NOT. HUMAN.
11
120
580
Zimbabwe are the feel-good story of the Netball World Cup, but their coach has been searching for equipment with £30 of his own money because they have so little. The extraordinary story of Zimbabwe's minnows: 'Think how much better we’d be with funding'
20
273
593
If you haven't read this about Luvo Manyonga, who has just won world long jump gold, then do. It's incredible.
5
349
556
Hi kids, you know when your teacher tells you to learn German. Well, do it. http://t.co/XLuBvDwfbl.
45
573
505
Amid the Justin Gatlin/Dennis Mitchell storm, it's very easy to miss this. Colin Jackson refused to have anything to do with it: "I look after some young people and I would never advise them to do that. Hard work and graft is always the way. No shortcuts.". Huge respect.
12
177
494
Paula Radcliffe, Joyce Smith, Laura Muir, Mara Yamauchi and many other British female runners have signed a letter strongly opposing equal men/women cross-country distances. "Sweeping change based on ideology about gender equality would be simply wrong".
10
148
474
20.33 is ridiculously fast aged 16. The fastest time ever run by a 16-year-old? 20.13. By Usain Bolt.
Erriyon Knighton ran a wind legal U.S. No. 1 in 20.33 AND set a new 200m national record. Did we mention this is the 15-16-year-old age group?😱🤯 He's unbelievable!
5
87
488
A few days ago, Charlotte Purdue said this: "I’ve been told so many times I don’t look like a marathon runner. 'You look too strong'. What does that mean? I always get comments. I just laugh it off.". She's just become the 3rd fastest British woman in history (2.25:38).
5
56
489
Jessica Ennis-Hill must beat Nafissatou Thiam by 9.47sec in the 800m to win Olympic heptathlon gold. The gap between their PBs? 9.47sec.
18
661
463
The way Tyson Fury has overcome his mental health problems is hugely admirable. What that doesn't do is re-write history. Fury has never taken back his homophobic or sexist rants and he has never acknowledged/apologised for being a drugs cheat. Let's maintain some balance.
21
73
448
My job is watching people run, so I decided to see what life as a runner is really like (spoiler: bloody hard). For the past year I have been training and competing over 800m. Here's what happened.
31
68
458
46 different countries won medals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships - the biggest ever spread of nations. For a sport struggling for attention, that’s a heck of a global reach.
8
88
450
No Mo Farah, don’t try and align yourself with Raheem Sterling and Lewis Hamilton. You’re being asked difficult questions because your old coach has been kicked out of the sport. It has absolutely nothing to do with race.
15
54
443
Love this Winter Olympics picture. 26 minutes after the winner, Mexican cross country skier German Madrazo is welcomed by friends/rivals from Colombia, Tonga, Morocco and Portugal as he finishes. They came 111 / 113 / 114 / 115 / 116 (out of 116) and are absolutely buzzing.
3
172
434
- Elaine Thompson-Herah, 10.54sec. 117 women have gone sub-11. - Usain Bolt, 9.58sec. 156 men have gone sub-10. Take Flo-Jo out of the equation (there are various reasons to do so) and Thompson-Herah is arguably sprinting's greatest ever outlier.
13
135
452
Liz McColgan-Nuttall was dropped by Nike when she became pregnant and told her career was over. A few months after giving birth she became world champion. Interview on life as a mother-athlete almost 30 years ago.
9
70
427
Nigeria's Tokyo Olympics athletics experience so far:. - 10 of its 23 athletes told they hadn't taken enough drug tests to be eligible one day before competition begins. - Team superstar Blessing Okagbare busted for drugs 12 hours after racing in the 100m first round.
43
247
414
Saturday, February 17: Ester Ledecka wins an Olympic skiing gold medal. Saturday, February 24: Ester Ledecka wins an Olympic snowboarding gold medal. That is a staggering achievement. Ridiculous. Wow.
4
100
393
Got to think that’s an enormous opportunity missed with Eliud Kipchoge smashing the marathon world record by 78 seconds - without doubt the greatest marathon performance by the greatest marathon runner of all time - and it wasn’t available anywhere on TV in Britain.
22
68
386
A short thread on the Olympic boxing debacle:. From what we know (and there is a fair amount that we don't), Imane Khelif should not be competing in Paris. It is both unfair and highly dangerous to her opponents. But the language being used is horrendous. This. (1/5).
109
78
394
Exclusive: Britain's Diamond League blackout has been averted after the BBC signed a last-minute TV deal. It will stream live coverage of all 2020 Diamond Leagues except Brussels (which clashes with British Championships).
11
75
406
A lot of people seemed to get rather angry about Ellis Cross (who paid his own entry fee and beat Mo Farah at the Vitality London 10,000) being referred to as a club runner. So I asked him about it.
15
16
378
Serious perseverance from Jodie Williams. Didn’t lose a race from 2005-2010, 151 consecutive wins, ran 100m PB of 11.18 aged 17. Eight years (and a hell of a lot injuries) later, she’s just run 11.17.
4
32
381
I’ve written so much about ‘super shoes’, I decided to test them over a series of 5km time trials. Normal shoe PB: 18.38.‘Super shoe’ PB: 17.43. Same person, same place, same weather, same preparation. 55 seconds difference. They are astonishing.
21
53
373
Words I didn’t expect to write… . To a sunny backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, Dutch convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde competes in the Paris 2024 Olympics volleyball. Madness.
17
75
342
Two things are true:. 1. Britain has its most exciting crop of 800/1500m runners in a generation. Seriously, seriously good. 2. Track spikes technology has totally changed the game for middle and long-distance. We are going to have to recalibrate how we view times.
8
26
363
Caster Semenya v IAAF case is so complex I can't understand how people hold such vehement opinions. Even the 3 judges that made the ruling were split 2 against 1. Ethical, moral, scientific, sporting debates all woven into one decision. It's a minefield.
9
58
352
High jumper Laura Zialor ruptured her Achilles mid-competition while representing Britain last week. She's now had to crowdfund for surgery because British Athletics said they won't pay for it. Story for @BBCSport.
28
97
350
Beth Dobbin has four jobs and works at Loughborough Uni reception, watching full-time athletes go past on their way to training. Then she took on the professionals and beat them to be crowned British 200m champion. Now she's going international.
6
69
347
Wow. This huge 8.48m jump from Markus Rehm would have won him gold at every single able-bodied European Championships in history.
🚨 WORLD RECORD 🚨 Markus Rehm 🇩🇪 saves the best til last! 🔥🔥🔥 A world record of 8.48m to take 🥇 in the men’s Long Jump T64 #Berlin2018
9
81
355
Love the marathon. GB's Olympic trials winners:. - Steph Davis. An unsponsored, asset management company worker who started running seriously three years ago. - Chris Thompson. A 39-year-old who first ran for Britain in 1998 and became a dad this week.
2
39
347
Alberto Salazar would never have been found guilty of doping offences and banned for four years without some excellent journalism and bravery from people who risked a lot to blow the whistle. This is a great account of how it all happened.
9
83
334
Nike have confirmed Eliud Kipchoge’s shoes for his sub-2hr marathon attempt are an “unreleased, updated” version of the ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT%, which are “still in the testing phase”.
21
141
325
Richard Kilty on Italy winning Eurovision, Euros football, Olympic men's 100m and 4x100m golds:. "In the history of mankind this is Italy's biggest year ever. Forget the Roman Empire, Nero, all that nonsense. This is as big as it gets for them. They have conquered the world.".
6
56
317
Don't care if there's precedent or if people argue it should be the ultimate test, the women's World Championships marathon should not have been run last night. There is no justification for dozens of people collapsing. Dangerous and horrible to watch.
21
63
304
Once the fastest man in the world, Michael Johnson suffered a sudden stroke this summer and had to learn to walk again. He vowed to recover quicker than anyone ever has. Here’s his first interview since that day.
3
103
305
Oh my word. Take a bow Dina Asher-Smith. Handed the relay baton in fourth place, she destroyed everyone to lead Britain to gold. 100m European champion, 200m European champion and 4x100m European champion. The first British athlete in history to complete a European treble. Wow.
4
52
302
2020 as an athletics reporter:. - Six months of no athletics. - Fly to Monaco for Diamond League. - Interview athletes in Monaco on the phone because not allowed face-to-face contact. - Evacuate back to Britain before Diamond League takes place to avoid quarantine.
6
29
306
If you only read one thing on the Nike Vaporfly debate, make it this from @sweatscience. Balanced, informative and a great response to people who just bellow: "Cheats!" Particularly like this imagined conversation.
5
102
302
Exclusive:.1. BBC declines to put GB Olympic trials on main channels or pay for the rights, but offers to host coverage on red button/website.2. UK Athletics says BBC can't have it for free.3. GB Olympic trials aren't on TV for the first time this century.
68
112
307
The anti-doping whereabouts system is not flawless. And it’s a big imposition for athletes. But if you’ve missed two tests, survived a near-ban last year, the Olympics are upcoming and you’re the fastest man in the world, why would you not do EVERYTHING to avoid another miss?.
11
30
289
“UK Athletics make us feel like the shittest athletes in the world. I feel like I am being robbed.”. At least 19 British athletes will have their World Championships invitation rejected by UK Athletics. Story for @guardian_sport.
26
98
294
No one has ever come within 22secs of Wang Junxia's doped up 10,000m world record set in 1993. Almaz Ayana has smashed it by 14secs. Erm. .
12
179
288
Oh my god. Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain, via Nigeria) running 48.14 seconds is the third fastest 400m time in history, behind an East German from 1985 and a Czechoslovak from 1983. Which is. interesting.
27
67
286
These two statements can’t both be true. - Farah says he’s had nothing to do with Aden (coach arrested in June 2016 for doping) since early 2015. - Gebrselassie says he banned Farah from bringing Aden into his hotel in late 2016 and so this grudge began.
8
114
287
Commonwealth 100m champion Michelle-Lee Ahye's appeal against a ban for missed drug tests has been rejected. She said she was home and the tester didn't do enough to locate her. He was there for 72 minutes, knocked 36 times, rang the bell 12 times and called her 2 phone numbers.
12
45
278
Two new events announced for World Relays: . - Mixed 2x2x400m. One man and one woman run 400m. twice each. - Mixed shuttle hurdles. Men and women do 100/110m hurdles in opposite directions. Both sound totally bonkers but can’t wait to see them.
11
40
282
World Athletics president Seb Coe thinks it might be time to raise the height of the women's 400m hurdles (which are six inches lower than the men's) because the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol are too good.
39
24
285
Sifan Hassan has been named for the 1,500m, 5,000m AND 10,000m in Tokyo. Is triple Olympic gold possible?. July 30, 19.00: 5,000m heats.Aug 2, 9.35: 1,500m heats.Aug 2, 21.40: 5,000m final.Aug 4, 19.00: 1,500m semis.Aug 6, 21.50: 1,500m final.Aug 7, 19.45: 10,000m final.
36
37
278
Holly Bradshaw: fought back from multiple injuries, shrugged off losing her sponsor, found another one on LinkedIn, ignored social media abuse, recovered from multiple near misses and won Britain's first Olympic pole vault medal.
5
26
263
Wake, walk the dog, go to work, train, shower, eat and go to bed. 6am start, 11pm finish. Six days a week. Meet Jessie Knight, the full-time primary school teacher (and third fastest 400m runner in the world this year) with Olympic dreams.
4
24
255
At a time when all-time greats like Faith Kipyegon, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Mondo Duplantis, Ryan Crouser and others are at the peak of their powers, it's a travesty that athletics is struggling like it is. The sport doesn't struggle for superstars.
15
30
243
Confirmed dates for 2022 athletics calendar:. - World Championships, July 15-July 24.- Commonwealth Games, July 27-Aug 7.- European Championships, Aug 11-Aug 21. Wonder if anyone will attempt the treble. .
27
60
225
- Dina Asher-Smith (60m).- Andrew Pozzi (60m hurdles).- Jemma Reekie v Keely Hodgkinson (800m).- Laura Muir (1500m). many other Brits. If the BBC are ever inclined to stick indoor athletics on the main channel, the Lievin World Indoor Tour on Tuesday is the time.
5
24
233
Seven weeks ago, Dina Asher-Smith had not even put her spikes on after broken foot. She just came 4th in World Champs 200m. What a comeback.
3
60
216
Great photo sequence from the World Championships in the sport section of today's Telegraph.
4
40
217
If you want to get a friend into athletics, show them the London 2017 women's 1500m. If they don't like it, drop them as a friend.
5
59
220
No white man has won an Olympic or world 100m medal since 1980. Why is that? Can skin colour really determine sprint speed? Or are appearances deceiving?. A detailed look at a very thorny subject, for @BBCSport .
51
48
221
Not sure I've ever regretted dropping German post-GCSE as much as I do now, while live blogging a Borussia Dortmund press conference.
19
176
197
Many won’t admit it, but elite athletics is in a fight for its existence. It must sell its heroes better if it’s going to survive. A piece for @AthleticsWeekly on athletes and the media.
9
41
211
Given all the pre-Games super-spreader fears, it’s been an incredible achievement for the Tokyo organisers to stage an Olympics with minimal Covid impact. They took a hell of a lot of criticism beforehand, so deserve big credit for pulling it off.
5
17
209
This is epic from Team GB rower Lola Anderson after winning Olympic gold. Show it to your daughter/granddaughter/niece. (Background: She wrote her Olympic dream down on paper aged 13 and threw it away, but her dad found it and gave it back when terminally ill 7 years later.)
2
53
205
“I feel like my career has been the biggest rollercoaster ever. I’m sick of my story. But I’m still not finished. Sometimes shit things happen.”. Many months after her traumatic Tokyo Olympics, KJT is at peace and ready to talk as openly as always.
2
17
208
. Women must be protected. Women's sport must be protected. But language matters and it is worrying how it has changed in just a few years since Semenya experienced this. It's not difficult to show some empathy towards all involved. (5/5).
79
14
193
Moments like this make athletics great - A self-coached club runner took the Tube to the London Marathon. and won.
3
87
205
Eliud Kipchoge has just destroyed the marathon world record in Berlin: 2.01:40. That is obscene. Obscene. The greatest of all time just got even greater. Incredible. Totally and utterly incredible.
8
71
201
Exclusive: The IOC and IPC have confirmed athletes will not be allowed to ‘take a knee’ at next year’s Olympics and Paralympics.
108
128
185
Made my @parkrunUK debut this morning. Such a great concept. Would definitely recommend for any level of runner.
6
9
187
This is brilliant. Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest woman in the world last year, ran for her club in a relay race against total amateurs on Saturday (and it appears was the only one with starting blocks!). Harry Kane, my Sunday League team has a game this weekend if you fancy it?.
4
18
182
The response to this has been entirely unexpected and totally overwhelming. Thank you so much for all the messages - I've read every single one. Right then. that's more than enough self-indulgence. Onwards and (hopefully) upwards we go.
Sadly, while I was on paternity leave the Telegraph decided they no longer need an athletics correspondent nor my services covering other sports. So, after a great 11 years, my time there is up. Let’s see what the future holds.
7
4
191
“I’m testimony that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone who is going through struggles, fight and you will come through.”. A year after attempting to take his own life, Matt Hudson-Smith has won Euro gold, Commonwealth silver and world bronze.
3
35
185