Britain going for gold in the inaugural Athletics World Cup
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There will be no World Cup Final for England fans to enjoy in Russia on Sunday. So patriots and sports fans alike are well advised to look forward to the inaugural Athletics World Cup.
The two-day spectacular will see eight of the world’s top performing nations from the 2017 World Championships compete in a brand new event at the London Stadium in Stratford.
All eight countries are eligible to enter one male and one female athlete in each event. These athletes will then compete as per the normal format to win points for the Platinum Trophy.
Events include all of the traditional track and field contests, including the 100m, 1500m, long jump and pole vault. No races over 1500m will be held.
The tournament gets underway at 7pm on Saturday 14th July and will run for two nights, concluding on Sunday 15th July when the team trophy presentations will take place.
You can watch all of the action live on Sky Sports. But first, let’s take you through who exactly is involved in what promises to be a weekend of groundbreaking athletics.
Who will compete?
As we’ve already alluded to, the eight top performing nations from the 2017 World Championships will compete in London.
They are the United States, Team GB, China, South Africa, France, Germany, Jamaica and Poland.
That means a whole host of the world’s top stars will once again take to the track (or field) six years on from London 2012.
Sprint King and Queen Yohan Blake and Elaine Thompson promise to light up the track on Sunday evening for Jamaica.
America’s best hopes could lay with 400m starlet Michael Norman and six-time Olympic gold medallist Alyson Felix.
French pole-vaulter Renaud Lavillenie and South African 400m ace Wayde van Niekerk also hold genuine hopes of individual medals.
Britain’s hopes
Team GB have a packed roster of stars ready to lead the fight for World Cup glory.
Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Daryll Neita and Dina Asher-Smith are a threat as a quartet in the relays but also as individuals in the 100m and 200m competitions.
The same goes for CJ Ujah, Danny Talbot, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Adam Gemili, who are the current men’s relay world champions.
Scottish star Laura Muir has shown excellent progression in the 5000m, 1500m and 800m and will contest the latter in London.
Her male counterpart Elliot Giles won a bronze at the 2016 European Championships and should also go well again here.
Elsewhere, Sophie Hitchon took bronze in the women’s hammer throw in 2016, while Katarina Johnson-Thompson is a threat in both the high jump and long jump.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
