Issue 315 | July 26 2013

W o m a n

o f

s t e e lNew name, new goals.

One year on from London 2012,

Jessica Ennis-Hill returns

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Issue 315, July 26 2013

Radar

04 The ice men cometh (again) In EA’s NHL14. Absolutely worth

getting yourself into a fistfight for

06 Fast in the past Michael Johnson takes us back to

1996, when he took aim at the 200m

world record and fair obliterated it

08 Youth policy As we mark a year on from the

Olympics, we present four names

to keep an eye on come Rio 2016

o this coming weekFeatures

16 Jessica Ennis-Hill New name, new goals, but there

remains a steely determination

about Team GB’s golden girl

24 2012 Olympic Legacy One year on from London 2012, now

seems an appropriate time to focus

in on its most repeated buzzword

29 David Weir As he heads back to the Olympic

Stadium, the Weirwolf reflects on

12 months as a Paralympic legend

30 Anniversary Games Athletics isn’t enjoying the best of

summers, but that hasn’t stopped

us looking on the bright side

32 The Ashes After a one-sided second Test, we

ask the seemingly unthinkable: is it

all just a bit too easy for England?

Extra Time

46 Gadgets The HTC One – or, as Chris de Burgh

would call it, the Smartphone in Red

48 Kit To coincide with this weekend’s

Virgin Active London Triathlon,

we select the kit to get you going

54 Games Our pick of all the big releases in

August, led by Splinter Cell: Blacklist

16

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| July 26 2013 | 03

Radarp06 – Flashback: when Michael Johnson destroyed his own 200m world record

p08– A year on from London, we pick our ones to watch for Rio 2016

04 | July 26 2013 |

e used to love the annual NHL

video games. With our grasp

of the rules as slippery as an

ice rink, the matches soon devolved

into low-friction chaos, the frenetic

end-to-end action punctuated only by

the ability to instigate a virtual fistfight

with your opponent. Alas, we’ve found

the newer editions ,with their focus on

‘realism’ and ‘authenticity’ much too

complicated for our tastes.

Luckily, the latest in the series,

NHL14, will include a retro, top-down

‘Anniversary Mode’ (pictured, above)

that echoes the 1994 edition. There

are updates to the modern part too

– including improved physics, which

should make the fighting even better.

Out September on Xbox360 and PS3

W

Radar

06 | July 26 2013 |

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“I knew going into that season what the goal

was going to be. There’s no way to really

duplicate that situation of going into an

Olympic Games on home soil, with the

expectation and the pressure, so from a

mental standpoint it was just about trying

to plan for every contingency.

The 400m went exactly as I had planned it.

I didn’t really hold back. I missed the world

record by two tenths of a second. I knew the

200m was going to be the more difficult race,

but qualifying went really smoothly.

I wanted to get into that final as easy as

possible, conserve as much as I could. After

already having run four rounds of the 400m, I

wanted to just have as much left for that final

as possible. At the time Frankie Fredericks

and Ato Boldon [eventual silver and bronze-

medallists in the 200m] were running

tremendously, so I thought I would have to

break my world record to win. I knew I could

run faster, but you’ve got to do it on the day.

I’ve always been something of a private

person, so I can’t say that I really enjoyed all

of the fame – it took some getting used to.

I can understand why people would think I’d

be disappointed when Usain Bolt broke the

200m world record, but I don’t think about

that – I don’t identify myself as ‘Michael

Johnson, world record holder’, even with the

one I still have [400m]. I don’t think about the

years I’ve held it – I think about the nine years

I spent trying to break it, and it’s the same

with the 200m. That’s a memory I’ll always

have, and it’s never going to go away.”

Perform has partnered with Michael Johnson

Performance to offer performance training

services to elite athletes and schoolchildren.

Find out more at spireperform.com

August 1 1996

Michael Johnson lights up the Atlanta Games

The sprinter lived up to the hype

in his home games in 1996 by

winning gold in the 400m and

then the 200m, knocking three

tenths of a second off his own

world record in the process

<<FLASHBACK <<

Partner Playuper-addictive mobile game Stick

Cricket is back with a new mode

that lets you team up with friends

or strangers to try and build a partnership.

You can also play alongside classic players

and engage in turn-based challenges like

hitting five sixes in five overs or making 50

runs without getting out. Don’t hog the strike!

Stick Cricket Partnerships, free on iOS and Android

S

Radar

08 | July 26 2013 |

Ones to watch,oneyearlater

Drivingrange

ne year on from the Opening Ceremony of

London 2012, which of course promised

to ‘inspire a generation’, we’ve picked

out four young British athletes who have grown up

around the hype and hyperbole since the Games

was awarded to London in 2005. Some had their

first taste of the Olympic experience in London, and

if all goes well they could make their mark on the

medal table at the next Games in 2016. They’d best

get cracking, though: there’s only 1,106 days to go.

O

eet the golf cart of the future,

as imagined by Mercedes-Benz.

Based on suggestions from

fans at the Open, the German car

makers have designed this concept

buggy. A heads-up display on the

windscreen will show you course layout

and information, and there’s an iPad

docking station for access to weather

data or for communicating with the

clubhouse if you run out of drinks in the

internal fridge. The ‘fore’ button will

even send a warning message to other

carts in the vicinity. Oh, and there’s

somewhere to put your clubs too.

M

katarina

johnson-thompson

The heir to Jessica

Ennis-Hill, 20-year-old

Katarina Johnson-

Thompson has an equally

awkward name and bags

of talent. She finished

15th in the heptathlon at

the Olympics, but has

won gold at world youth,

world junior and

European U23 level.

One to watch for next

year’s Commonwealth

Games – and beyond.

sam oldham

Already an Olympic

medallist in the team

all-around event in

London, he took

silver in the horizontal

bar at this year’s

European Gymnastics

Championships in

Moscow as well. Still

just 20, Oldham will

be key as British

gymnastics looks to

build on a successful

2012 in Brazil.

All

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kyle edmund

The 18-year-old South

African-born tennis

player has won the

French and US Opens

at junior level. He has

perhaps understandably

struggled so far at

senior level – he went

out in the first round

at Wimbledon this year

– but by the time Rio

comes around Edmund

will hope to have

established himself

on the senior tour.

adam gemili

Already European U23

and world junior 100m

champion, the Dagenham

& Redbridge defender-

turned sprinter

impressed at London

2012, finishing third in

his semi final in 10.06s.

The 19-year-old is yet to

break the 10-second

barrier, but some places

have opened up at the

top of the sprinting

game recently...

10 | July 26 2013 |

Radar Opinion

Publisher

Simon Caney

@simoncaney

Sport magazinePart of UTV Media plc

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Email: firstname.lastname@sport-magazine.co.uk

EditorialPublisher: Simon Caney (7951)

Deputy editor: Tony Hodson (7954)

Art editor: John Mahood (7860)

Subeditor: Graham Willgoss (7431)

Senior writers:

Sarah Shephard (7958), Alex Reid (7915)

Staff writers:

Mark Coughlan (7901), Amit Katwala (7914)

Picture editor: Julian Wait (7961)

Designer: Matthew Samson (7861)

Digital designer: Chris Firth (7952)

Production manager: Tara Dixon (7963)

Contributing Editor: Bill Borrows

Commercial Head of Sales: Iain Duffy (7991)

Advertising Managers:

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Printed by: Wyndeham Group Ltd

© UTV Media plc 2012

UTV Media plc takes no responsibility for the content

of advertisements placed in Sport magazine

£1 where sold

Hearty thanks to: Megan Hess, Katie Jorgensen,

Jarrod Kimber, Nick Palmer-Brown, Emma

Gazzellioni, Paul Cox, Ciaran Pillay, Ben

Goldhagen, Paul Brady and Jane Cowmeadow

Don’t forget: Help keep public transport clean and tidy for everyone by taking your copy of Sport away with you when you leave the bus or train.

LAUNCH OFTHE YEAR

2008

Total Average Distribution:

302,466 Jul-Dec 2012

www.sport-magazine.co.uk

@sportmaguk

facebook.com/sportmagazine

So what were we all doing this Friday last year?

If memory serves, I was thinking about leaving the

office early because of the inevitable transport

problems in London. It was surely going to be chaos. I was

unsure how the next few weeks were going to pan out.

As it turned out, they panned out just fine. The London

Olympics and Paralympics were brilliant celebrations of

both sport and all that’s good about this country.

But 12 months on, where are we now? That word

‘legacy’ – what does it mean? On page 24 we look at what

has been done in the past year and what the future holds,

but it’s hard to see any tangible evidence just yet that we

are turning into a more active nation.

Wisely, Baroness Sue Campbell, chair of the Youth Sport

Trust, stresses that results will be seen over a generation

rather than a year. And, as it turns out, the Olympics will be

only a part of what inspires today’s children. This year has

given us its own batch of genuine sporting heroes: Andy

Murray, Chris Froome, Justin Rose, Jimmy Anderson and

George North, to name but a few. This is truly a golden era

for sport in the UK, and these are the people who will

inspire the next generation.

It’s hard to see how that won’t happen, but we won’t

really know for at least another 10 years whether ‘legacy’

means anything at all.

The reaction to Froome’s epic victory in the Tour de

France was strangely muted. Perhaps we were spoiled by

Sir Bradley last year, who is that rarity – the superstar

sportsman with personality to match. Maybe we’re just

becoming used to success on two wheels. But either way,

Froome’s win should be celebrated every bit as much as

Wiggins’. Now: head to head in the Tour next year, chaps?

Last week’s Open was one of the best I can remember.

A final-day leaderboard packed with star names, all of

whom had a chance at some stage or another – this is

what Majors should be about. In Phil Mickelson it produced

a fitting champion for Muirfield, which is a truly wonderful

course – the best of any of those that stage the Open.

While it is a superb test of golf, though, it must sort out

its membership policy: I suspect it will have done so the

next time the Claret Jug is contested at the home of

the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

That legacy thingyHow will we know that stars such as Chris Froome are really influencing our children?

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The long run: Froome’s

Tour de France win should

stand the test of time in

more ways than one

12 | July 26 2013 |

Radar Opinion

Flats on Friday

When sports teams lose, we are used to hearing players and coaches alike promise to take the positives

out of the situation. For me, this – along with

‘credit to the opposition’ – is just something that people

have become used to saying. I’m never sure it actually

means anything.

I’d actually prefer it if these guys had a bit of fun with

the interviewers. Song title competitions are often a

good bet, or the ‘keyword challenge’. I once had to get

‘snorkel’ into an interview, which was tough. I also

challenged Justin Harrison, former Australia and Bath

second row, to shoehorn in the phrase ‘cougar in a car’

during an appearance on Sky Sports. He managed it with

the sort of panache I never saw coming. It was sublime.

And anyway, what positives are ever really taken from

a hammering? I can see the lessons of a hard-fought

loss being valuable but, on the whole, a thrashing

generally means you’re not good enough – and that’s

a tough one to reverse.

I wonder what the Australian cricket team will be

taking from the second Test in terms of positive

learnings. Perhaps they will go down the route

trademarked by Norfolk Radio’s third favourite son, Alan

Partridge, who once so enigmatically said: “Right now I

need two positives: one to cancel out the negative, and

one just so I’ve got a positive.” This was a man with a

plan, and the Aussies would do well to keep it this simple.

The thing is, I’m just not sure there’s much they can do,

and I mean it when I say that’s a proper shame.

Some call one-sided matches dull, and a good

proportion of the time I’m inclined to agree with them.

Just as England getting ritually trounced by Australia

for years got a little tiresome, so it will if this apparent

turning of the tables continues. What we want – well,

what I want, anyway – is a proper contest. The first Test

was epic in its drama, but the visiting team that so many

experts predicted would turn up indeed appeared for

round two. From my desk-mounted iPad, it just doesn’t

seem that they have the quality to resist England,

seemingly unnecessary collapses notwithstanding.

So what on earth will they take from another humping,

should results follow form? They’ll get a decent tan,

I suppose, and that won’t happen too often during

UK tours; at least the company that produces that

sunblock/mime artist concealer will be happy.

I want England to win the series by way of a

whitewash, naturally, but I don’t actually want them to

get there too easily. Not to save Australian hearts

– please, this is sport, and suffering is part of the deal.

But I’ve played in rugby matches and blitzed the

opposition before and, while running riot is fun at the

time, it all feels a little less fulfilling once the bright

lights fade. So let’s hope that the England boys do a

proper job on the Aussies, but let’s also hope for a

ding-dong battle to make the victory as famous and

worthwhile as it deserves to be.

@davidflatman

I received a text from an old City-supporting friend last week. It read:

“Have you heard the Messi rumour?” I texted

him back: “City? United? Gay?”

“City. It’s on the Manchester Evening News

website.” In the time it to took to verify this –

approximately 0.032 seconds – and then reject it as

cheap hit-driving speculation of the cruellest kind,

a mixture of disappointment and frustration had

descended that was the yin to the yang when

Robinho signed on the last day of the summer

transfer window in 2008.

In recent weeks, City have been linked to Edinson

Cavani (his mum said we were going to sign him),

Isco (he wants to join up with Manuel Pellegrini

again), Zlatan Ibrahimović (sulking because PSG

were after Cavani), Falcao (£54m offer agreed in

May, apparently), Angel Di Maria (deal held up as

Real Madrid wait to sign Gareth Bale), Bale himself

(City prepared to offer £80m), Robert Lewandowski

(‘officially interested’, unofficially) and Titus Bramble

(keen to partner him with Vincent Kompany).

Now all of those, bar one – Tottenham can keep

Bale – are guaranteed to induce repetitive strain

injury as fans hit the internet and tweet and text

their mates with these ‘news’ turds. But you permit

yourself to dream. If a pair of weathered old

campaigners like me and Messi texter – who both

remember being told to get ready for Franz

Beckenbauer to take over at City before being

presented with Brian Horton – still get excited, can

you imagine what it is like for a nine-year-old boy?

I should know, I live with one.

Every day he files urgent hard schoolground

news (‘Max’s dad reckons…’) like a war reporter

broadcasting under fire from a foxhole outside

Baghdad, until each target moves to a different club

or the window closes. I wouldn’t seek to ban it, but I

would like every national newspaper and reputable

website to be forced to enter their speculation into

a league table format with points awarded for

correct information, exclusives and insane calls

that come true – and points deducted for wild

speculation that keeps young boys and old farts

awake at night. They would, of course, all have to

publish said table. Could be a relegation battle for

The Daily Star and Sunday People.

@billborrows

Da

vid

Ly

ttle

ton

Transfer bombshell league

It’s like this…Bill Borrows

Plank of the WeekMichael Clarke, a darkened room

“I know a lot of the crowd laughed when I said

[Australia could win the series]… but all of our

top order have made a 50 and we need someone

who can go on and make a big 100 – as England

have done.” Sometimes the words are just enough.

Swann songJames Pattinson is nothing if not plucky, but his 35

in Australia’s second innings on Sunday (ending

here, LBW to Graeme Swann) was his last action

of this Ashes tour. A stress fracture to his back

was caused, ironically, by bowling too much and

not getting enough rest between innings as his

teammates slumped to 128 all out from just

53 overs. The Aussies are bad enough as it is

without losing one of their best batsmen...

14 | July 26 2013 |

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Frozen in time

| 15

W o n d e r

W o m a n

16 | July 26 2013 |

JessIca Ennis-Hill

A year on from her

London heroics,

Jessica Ennis-Hill

returns with a new

name, new goals,

and even a cape

uperman might seem an unlikely

saviour for an Olympic champion,

but he helped Jessica Ennis-Hill

recover from her lowest ebb.

With her foot in a cast after the

career-threatening stress fracture

to her right ankle that wrecked her

2008 season, the heptathlete watched

episode after episode of Smallville – the

story of Clark Kent’s development from

provincial teen to global icon. “It definitely

kept my mind off being miserable and upset

about being injured,” she tells us in an

exclusive interview one year on from the

London 2012 Olympic Games.

“I don’t think I’m much like Clark Kent,”

says Ennis-Hill, laughing when we ask

whether she sees any similarities between

the girl from the Steel City and the Man of

Steel – beyond the red and blue Lycra, of

course. It’s not quite a school bus full of

kids, but she did bear unprecedented

pressure on her shoulders as the unofficial

face of London 2012. A heroic performance

in the heptathlon saw her set three personal

bests and surge across the line first in

the 800m to add the polish to the now

renowned Super Saturday – a perfect

performance from start to finish.

But, behind the scenes, it wasn’t nearly

as smooth as it looked. “I was really

nervous the whole year,” she reveals.

“Obviously when you do interviews you have

to keep a strong face, but the beginning of

the year didn’t go the way I wanted it to,

and I had a lot of trouble with the long jump

that I had to keep really positive with. I kept

saying that it was all fine, but I had terrible

sessions – right up until the holding camp

before we went into London.”

It’s certainly strange to hear her admit

to the unseen worries playing on her mind,

given her mask of composure. “Lots of

little things crept into my mind,” she admits,

with the honesty that made her one of the

most compelling stories of the Games. k

P H o T o G r a P H Y : J o H n d a V I S

r

Jessica Ennis-Hill

| July 26 2013 | 19Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

“I went to one of my first Diamond League

events in the hurdles, false-started and got

disqualified. So I was thinking: ‘Oh gosh, what

if I do that in London?’ It’s never a smooth

ride; there are all these different things

going on behind the scenes, and things are

playing on your mind.”

As well as the pressure she put on herself,

there was, of course, that immense national

expectation. Her face looked down from

billboards and buses across the country –

in her book she talks about not being able to

indulge in a visit to her local chippy because

of her own face judging her from a poster.

At times, she says, it was all too much.

“If I’d had a bad session, it would get on

top of me, and I’d come home worrying that

everything was kind of falling apart,” she

reflects. “People just expected me to win no

matter what, and I really knew how hard it

was going to be. I’m not gonna lie – it did

worry me quite a bit.”

You can almost sense the relief washing

over her in one of the iconic images of the

Games. The photo of Ennis-Hill crossing

the line in that 800m will surely be made into

a statue some day: eyes closed, head tilted

back, arms raised in celebration. However,

she admits that celebrating in that manner

was “totally out of character”. She sounds

genuinely horrified when we ask whether she

regrets not opting for a more outlandish

victory move, or a more marketable shape

such as the ‘Bolt’ or the cringeworthy ‘Mobot’.

“I would never do that,” she insists.

”Putting my arms in the air was pretty out

there for me, so I’m not about to do any

dances! I’m quite a reserved person anyway,

so normally I just get on with competing.

Inside I’m either really nervous, or happy

or angry, but on top you can’t tell. With the

Olympics, it just completely took over me.

It was the greatest thing I ever wanted to

achieve and I’d done it. It was relief that

came out of me more than anything.”

T h e r e T u r n If everything up to and including that famous

celebration marked part one of Ennis-Hill’s

career – the origin story, if you will – then

the sequel hasn’t gone quite as well as she

would have liked, at least on the track. A

nagging ankle injury is casting doubt on her

participation in this weekend’s Anniversary

Games, staged in London to mark a year

since the Opening Ceremony. There’s no

heptathlon, so if fit Ennis-Hill will be taking on

the world’s best hurdlers and long-jumpers.

A greater concern is the World Athletics

Championships in Moscow, which start in

a fortnight’s time. As things stand, the

27-year-old will go into them after a long

break from competition. With that in mind,

she has already admitting to having to

come to terms with the fact that this year

“will not be like previous years”.

She can’t wait, however, to get her feet

back in the blocks. “I’m looking forward to

kind of blowing off the cobwebs and getting

back into it,” she tells us. But she does admit

to having some nerves: “My last real big

competition was obviously the Olympics,

so I have a tough act to follow...”

One of her main rivals, Tatyana Chernova,

will be competing in front of a home crowd

in Moscow – a “complete reversal”, says

Ennis-Hill, of the situation in London, where

the Russian took bronze. Chernova did pip

Issue 268 | August 10 2012

How my Olympic dream came true

Jess Ennis

Ennis-Hill to gold at the worlds in 2011,

however, and will be one of the favourites –

particularly with the Brit’s training so badly

disrupted. “I’d love to go to the World

Championships and come back with the gold

medal, but I’m very aware it’s going to be

tough,” she says. “Chernova will definitely be

looking forward to competing there, and I’m

sure she’ll want to win gold at home.”

It was always going to be tough returning

to the grind of training after the Olympic high.

It was down to earth with a bump back in

September, at her first “horrendous”

post-Games session under the supervision

of long-time coach Toni Minichiello, but

Ennis-Hill allowed herself to bask in the

victory glow until the turn of the year. “You’re

still excited by what you’ve achieved,” she

says. “But as soon as it turns 2013, you have

to put that to one side and refocus.”

With her Olympic medal back in its box,

it took Ennis-Hill some time to build up her

motivation again after the Games.

“It’s definitely harder at the start, because

you start on a huge high and have to get back

into normality and do all the work,” she adds.

“But as the months went on and the new

year came round, that’s when I kind of got

my motivation back and got into it.”

A n e w h o p eThe big occasion has always been the real

motivator for Ennis-Hill. She would never

admit it, but there was a hint of playing to

the crowd about the way she forced her way

to the front in the 800m, despite a win not

being required to secure gold. “I love competing

in front of a big crowd and having that

adrenaline of everyone there watching,” is as

far as she will go on that front. “I did a lot of

hard running sessions for the 800m; I was

always killing myself on the track, so in the

competition I felt I had to give it everything.”

We ask whether Ennis-Hill thinks she will

find it difficult going from the cauldron of the

Olympic Stadium to Diamond League events

in places such as Estonia and Finland.

“London was the highlight of my career,”

she says. “It’s going to be hard to top, so I

just have to take each competition at a time

and see what I can do.”

Whatever she can or can’t do in Moscow

and beyond, Ennis-Hill will look back on 2013

with almost as much fondness as 2012.

Because, after a long engagement that

straddled the Games, she finally wed her

fiancé Andy in May – hence the new moniker.

Her husband is a construction site manager,

and she says being married to someone

outside athletics helps take her mind off the

pressures she faces: “We do talk about

athletics at home sometimes, but it’s nice

because we have something else to talk

about. It helps not to get too stressed and

wrapped up in the sporting world, and it

helps me try and put things into perspective

– so it’s definitely a good thing for me.”

Outside of that fortress of solitude,

Ennis-Hill hasn’t quite had to adopt a secret

alter-ego, but she admits she has to work k

“ i ’ m e i T h e r n e r v o u s ,

o r h A p p y o r A n g r y ,

b u T y o u c A n ’ T T e l l ”

Ennis-Hill graces Sport’s

cover from August 10

last year, after crowning

her heptathlon gold

by winning the 800m

Jessica Ennis-Hill

20 | July 26 2013 | Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Credit

hard to keep her private and public personas

separate amidst the maelstrom of photo

shoots and television adverts.

“I’m still a very private person,” she insists,

before breaking out into her infectious laugh

when Sport asks her to elaborate. “I don’t go

out in a disguise! But I’ve always got a hoody

that I can wear when I’m taking the dog out

for a walk or things like that, so I can kind

of keep quiet and get on with my day. Things

take so long when people want to come and

speak to you all the time. You know, you

might be in a rush getting to training, and

people want pictures. But, of course, it’s

all lovely.”

What of her interactions with a still

well-wishing public? “It’s definitely different

now,” she says. “People recognise you more

now and want to wish you good luck. It’s still

strange when people come up to me and

start screaming, but it’s lovely that people

admire what you do. I get lots of strange

letters. There’s one guy who sends figurines

– he makes little cut-out wooden figures of

me on a little stand that he’s hand-painted

and he sends me those...”

She enjoys fierce local support from her

hometown of Sheffield – bewilderingly,

Sheffield United have even named one of

their stands after her. She feels that the city

has offered her an environment that has

helped her achieve success, and was adamant

in her refusal to move to the metropolis of

London when asked to so by the then head

of UK Athletics, Charles van Commenee.

“I think where you’re from and how you’ve

been brought up and the people around you

are a huge part of who you are,” she says.

“It’s a friendly city and people are very down

to earth. They support what you’re doing, but

they don’t kind of blow smoke up your arse.

They just let you get on with it.”

T h e q u e s T f o r p e a c eThe city’s Don Valley Stadium is where it all

started for a “scrawny” 11-year-old Ennis,

but it is soon to be demolished to cut council

costs. “It’s really disappointing that it’s going

to be knocked down,” she says. “That’s where

I started – and it’s been a big part of why I’ve

been able to be successful. Having such a big

stadium in my home city has been inspiring,

and it’s such a shame that all the kids in the

city aren’t going to have that.”

She laughs when we suggest that if they

build a new track it will almost certainly be

named after her, but the serious tone soon

returns. “I jut hope we can find funding to

put money into developing one of the other

tracks in Sheffield, so there is still a base for

myself and other athletes,” she says. “I think

we need that in our city.”

Despite the closure of her former training

base, Ennis-Hill says she does see some

signs that the Olympics have done as

promised and ‘inspired a generation’.

“When I’m training at the English Institute

for Sport, there are absolutely loads of kids

down there, and I do see a lot of enthusiasm

for athletics locally. I think it’s gonna perhaps

take a little bit longer to see the true legacy,

but where I train there are people excited

about athletics and wanting to get into it.”

Ennis-Hill refuses to be drawn into

specifics on her own future: “It’s so hard.

You don’t know what’s going to happen from

session to session or year to year, or how

your body or motivation levels hold up. Rio is

definitely a goal for me; that’s a long-term

thing that I’m working towards. I don’t

know... I’ll be 30 in Rio and probably on the

downward spiral of my career, so I’m not

thinking after that point just yet.”

Ennis-Hill’s hurdles time in London would

have won her gold in the individual event in

Beijing, and she’s considering giving up the

“ n o w p e o p l e

w i l l e x p e c T

m e T o k e e p

w i n n i n g f o r

a l o n g T i m e ”

physically demanding heptathlon to focus

solely on hurdles in future. “I really love the

hurdles,” she says. “There are likely to be a

few more competitive hurdle races, so I can

see how I measure up against the other girls.”

Whatever she decides to do, Ennis-Hill

says she’s sure there will always be pressure.

“People will expect me to keep winning for a

long time, but if I achieve nothing else I would

still be the happiest girl in the world with

what I achieved last year and the few years

before,” she smiles. “In that respect, it’s a

nice position to be in. I’m still in the middle of

my career and hopefully I can achieve more.”

Although she jokingly answers “kryptonite”

when we ask what her weakness is, finally

buying into our tortured superhero analogy,

it’s hard to see a reason why Ennis-Hill

shouldn’t keep achieving in the long term.

In London, she proved beyond doubt that she

can cope with that pressure and handle the

unique expectation placed upon her.

She might not be saving the world, but one

year on the quiet girl from Sheffield turned

heroine of the Games returns, ready to take

it on again.

Amit Katwala @amitkatwala

Jessica Ennis is Vitality Ambassador for PruHealth

and PruProtect, helping to motivate people to live a

healthy lifestyle and rewarding them for doing so.

www.pruhealth.co.uk, www.pruprotect.co.uk

Sponsored by

Sponsored by

2012 Olympic Legacy

24 | July 26 2013 |

Built to last?

One year on from London’s finest hour,

there’s one question being asked: was

it worth it? It’s a simple query, but one

without a straightforward answer. There

is no doubt that London 2012 was a roaring success

in the most obvious and immediate ways – huge

crowds created some of the best atmospheres the

Olympics has ever seen, and the home nation (that’s

us) rose to the occasion better than anyone could

have imagined possible.

But there is no escaping the ‘L’ word. What exactly

did Lord Coe envisage when he promised that the

Olympic Games would leave a significant and lasting

legacy for sport in Britain? His pledge to “inspire

a generation” captured the imagination of the

International Olympic Committee members who

awarded the 2012 Games to London in Singapore.

But was it a pledge with any firm foundations behind

it, or simply an effective catchphrase?

“There is no question that young people found the

Games inspirational,” Baroness Sue Campbell tells

Sport in a warm yet matter-of-fact manner, which

harks back to her days as a PE teacher in the early

1970s. Now chair of the Youth Sport Trust, her

background imbues her with a wealth of experience

in sports leadership. She spent 10 years as chief

Just 12 months ago, the world waited to see how Britain would handle playing host to the greatest show on Earth. We smashed it. But how are we handling our post-Games responsibilities? Sport asks the experts

executive of the National Coaching Foundation, and

was chair of UK Sport from 2003 until her retirement

earlier this year.

“Interestingly, it was marginally more the

Paralympics that inspired a lot of youngsters,” she

continues. “They saw individuals doing great things

and being great athletes, but against all sorts of

challenges. It made them realise that, no matter what

challenges they faced, they could succeed. So there

has been a real inspirational moment – the challenge

now is turning that into sustained participation.”

Cause and effect

One man who has seen the after-effects of Super

Saturday and Thrilling Thursday from close quarters

is the man who coached Jessica Ennis-Hill to Olympic

heptathlon gold, Toni Minichiello. “Here in Sheffield

[where he coaches Ennis-Hill], the number of

youngsters getting involved in the sport has

quadrupled,” he says. “We’ve gone from about 200

people involved in kids’ academies here to 700,

plus a small waiting list. The Olympics was a

massive stimulus.

“But there are downsides, and whether there is

truly a legacy I have to question – a legacy being a

long-lasting, permanent feature of the Olympics.”

Minichiello’s view is unsurprising considering that,

since the Games, he has been made redundant by

British Athletics and has seen one of his main

coaching venues – and the place where he first

worked with a talented 13-year-old who would go on

to be an Olympic champion – condemned to closure.

Minichiello has described the closing of Don Valley

Stadium this September as a “hefty blow” to

Ennis-Hill’s hope of defending her Olympic title in 2016.

But when it comes to his own circumstances, he sees

far wider issues at work. “We do not have enough

coaches and we don’t have a professionalism of

coaches” he says. “There’s always an overreliance

on volunteers. I was employed for a while and

am now – strictly speaking – a volunteer too.

But there’s a limit to what volunteers can do.

“There should have been a move towards the

professionalisation of coaching so that people could

actually earn a living from it, or develop a career.

There should also have been more of an emphasis on

recruiting coaches before the Olympics, so that we

could cope with this. These are the same problems

we had after we won the Rugby World Cup in 2003

and the Ashes in 2005 – you just couldn’t cope with

the influx afterwards. So the lessons were there,

but they hadn’t been learned.”

Matt Prior

| 25

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From small acorns…

Baroness Campbell agrees with Minichiello’s view,

but with one exception: elite coaches.

“UK Sport has doubled its investment in elite

coaching for the Rio cycle, but that’s only a relatively

small group,” she says. “Look at coaching generally:

we’re investing only in the top of the tree, but the

whole trunk – which includes coaches from mums and

dads to national-level junior athletes – has no structure

at all. It requires real investment to change that.”

Investment in primary schools is the most

important factor, says Campbell, in ensuring the

inspired generation grows up to be an inspiring one:

“If you want to inspire a generation, you have to start

at the beginning of the generation. Changing people’s

behaviour is much harder than getting people to

behave in a certain way early on in life.

“In developed nations around the world, we are

battling against a more sedentary lifestyle – so it

has become incredibly hard to get people to adopt

physical activity as part of daily life. The only way you

tackle that is by changing the mindset of kids that

physical activity is not something that’s nice to do,

but something you need to do. Just like thinking about

developing your numeracy and literacy, the business

of developing your physical literacy is key.”

She is not alone in prioritising primary school

sport, which is why there was such an outcry when

education secretary Michael Gove dismantled the

School Sports Partnerships (SSPs) in 2010 –

the national PE scheme that had been backed by

£162m of funding.

“Some would argue they [the SSPs] were doing a

good job, and some would say otherwise, but at least

it had a level of permanency to it,” says Minichiello.

He’s concerned the new funding plan for school

sport, which was announced in March and pledged

£150m a year for the next two years, doesn’t go far

enough. “It’s all piecemeal stuff, not legacy in the

true sense that it’s got any permanency to it.

“Kids in schools should get a minimum of four

hours of physical activity per week from a teacher

who has been trained to deliver activities like sports,

dance and outdoor pursuits such as trekking. At the

moment, during a three-year period, primary school

teachers get just six hours of instruction on how to

deliver sport in schools.”

Remember your first PE lesson? That’s probably

because there wasn’t much memorable about it,

according to Campbell, who says a child’s first

experience of physical education has often been

delivered by teachers that are “lacking the

confidence and in some cases the competence to

deliver PE well”. The new funding could make a big

difference, she says, but only if used in the right way:

“We’ve got to put a lot of that money into training our

teachers, and it has to be a two-pronged attack

– focused on helping the teachers we’ve already got

to be more effective in PE, and on changing initial

teacher training so we’re getting better quality

primary PE teachers coming into schools.”

Keeping the winning habit

At the opposite end of the scale to school sport are

the likes of Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford and Ennis-Hill

– the gold-medal winners who are supported by

Britain’s high-performance sports agency, UK Sport.

“Our agenda is to ensure we develop a more

sustainable and successful performance system,

so that those of us who felt, saw and enjoyed the

success in London 2012 will have the chance to

see it again and again,” explains UK Sport chief

executive Liz Nicholl. “Making sure the pathways

between participation, talent and performance

are really strong is a big one for us, so that we

continue to have athletes with medal potential

coming through.”

Judging whether UK Sport has been successful is

more straightforward than assessing whether the

youth of today have been convinced to ditch their

PlayStations and iPads in favour of a kick-about in

the local park. Medal tables are a bit of a giveaway.

But Nicholl says it’s also UK Sport’s remit to keep

prodding and poking the nation into remembering

just how great sport can be by making use of their

main assets – the athletes themselves.

“We fund 1,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes

and we’re expecting them to give up five days of

their time each year to inspire the next generation

through school and community sports, making that

connection so that our successful athletes are

inspiring young people to do sport,” she explains.

One thing London 2012 proved is that Britain’s

appetite for watching live sport remains insatiable.

Even so, UK Sport is doing its damnedest to satisfy

that appetite through its Gold Event Series. >

Baroness Sue Campbell

Chair of the Youth

Sport Trust

Toni Minichiello

Coach to Jessica

Ennis-Hill

Liz Nicholl

Chief Executive of

UK Sport

The experts

Talking about inspiring a generation: an

enraptured Olympic Stadium last summer

(above); Ellie Simmonds prepares for the

women’s 50m freestyle (below)

Matt Prior

26 | July 26 2013 |

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“We’re targeting bringing up to 70 major,

sport-specific events at world and European level to

Britain over the next six years” says Nicholl. “We’ve

won about 24 bids already, and have a number of

them still live. And they’re in various locations around

the nation – not just in London. It’s a platform to

inspire. Not only for those watching, but also the

athletes performing in front of a home crowd and

the volunteers, too.”

With high performance at the forefront of UK

Sport’s minds, then, what does Nicholl make of the

closure of the Don Valley Stadium and the plight of

athletes such as long jump Olympic champion Greg

Rutherford, who has struggled for sponsorship?

”It’s taking the landscape time to settle down

following a big commercial focus on London 2012,”

she says. “Before we get back to business as usual,

there will inevitably be some winners and some losers.

“It’s important that every athlete with the potential

to deliver medals is able to access the right facilities.

But there will inevitably be some closures and new

openings – and it’s that period in between a closing

and an opening that’s the most difficult time.”

Rutherford’s situation also has its basis in the

harsh reality of the commercial world, says Nicholl.

“Sponsors are always going to be looking at future

potential, and there may be some shifts in their

thinking about which athletes and sports to

support,” she explains. “And they’ll be making

those decisions for commercial reasons.”

Small changes, big differences

Sponsorship makes a huge difference at the other

end of the scale, though, and Minichiello believes

the Government could be doing more to encourage

sponsors into sport. “If there’s truly going to be

a legacy from this, there should be tax breaks for

people sponsoring sports teams with youngsters,”

he says. “So if you personally run a business and

want to support an under-14s football team by

buying them a kit or paying for their pitch hire or

floodlights, those things should be encouraged.

“I remember during the Games, one of the Olympic

sponsors wanted to make available to their staff the

opportunity to go on a coaching course – which the

company was going to pay for. But they were told it

was a gift in kind, meaning it would be taxable, so

they dropped the idea altogether. If a company wants

to send someone on a coaching course to then give

back to the community, that should be tax-exempt.

For any government truly interested in sport and

trying to change the health of a nation, those kinds

of things would be automatic.”

The man named UK Coach of the Year for

overseeing Ennis-Hill’s rise to the top chuckles when

asked whether the people with the power to act on

his suggestions have ever asked for his views on

how to secure a legacy from London 2012: “I’m the

son of immigrant workers up north – what do I know?

I get no kudos stood next to a minister, but if I’m

Jessica Ennis, then I do. What happens in sport is

that, politically, they’re obsessed with celebrity.

So they’ll ask the people who perform what should

happen – never the people behind them.”

Campbell recalls the phrase “you’re never a

prophet in your own land” when talking of Minichiello.

He is one of many people with the passion and ideas

that could make a difference to ensuring Lord Coe’s

promise to the IOC in Singapore proves to be more

than a platitude designed to win votes. She is

another one, as is Nicholl.

But 12 months after the Games is no time to draw

conclusions on whether the legacy has been a

success, says Campbell: “The test will be: is this

generation of young people a more physically active,

more sporty, healthier generation? If the answer to

that is no, then I will say we didn’t deliver on what we

promised. But no nation has taken an Olympic Games

and been able to create a boom in participation with it.

It’s a massively difficult thing to do. But then nobody

has tried to do it in a generational way, and that’s

where we have to start: with a new generation.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag

Toni Minichiello is 2012 UK Coach of the Year

and Powerade ambassador, helping promote

Powerade’s personalised Sports Bottle campaign.

Visit poweradegb.com

2012 Olympic Legacy

Number of 16 to 25-year-olds playing sport regularly – an increase of 63,000 in the past year

3.86m

‘There will be winners and losers,’ says Liz Nicholl.

Two of the latter: The Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield,

which will close in September (above left), and

Greg Rutherford (above), who has struggled for

sponsorship despite his gold-medal win in London

Sport England’s Active People survey. Findings are

for the year to April 2013

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“It’s always goIng to be tough to match 2012 – not only the medals, but the emotIons”

David Weir

| July 26 2013 | 29

before London 2012, David Weir had

won the London Marathon a record-

equalling six times, had six Paralympic

medals (two of them gold) hidden away

in his south London home, and had been

appointed an MBE. Yet he remained one of the

lesser-known lights of British sport.

No longer. Weir’s heroics at last summer’s

Paralympics, at which he won four gold

medals across distances starting at 800m

and ending at 26.2 miles, have rightly made

him a household name – and one that has

played a huge role in attracting a sell-out

crowd to the Olympic Stadium for Sunday’s

International Para Challenge at the

Anniversary Games.

That 10-day spell last August transformed

Weir the wheelchair racer into ‘The Weirwolf’,

with a theme tune and specially designed

helmet to match. But the plaudits and

trophies were forgotten as early as January

8 2013 – a date that still elicits a wince of

pain from Weir. “It was my first day back in

training after four months out,” he recalls.

“It was tough. When I have time out, the first

week back is always sort of alright and you

think: ‘Oh, this is okay.’ But then your body

starts to ache and you’re like: ‘What am I

doing?’ That first session back was just a

gentle six-mile push to go through the motions

really, but I remember my lungs burning a lot.

“I always go back at the wrong time of

year, too – when it’s freezing cold, dark and

horrible outside. It was the coldest winter I

have ever experienced – the wind was painful

– but it was what I had to do to get ready for

the London Marathon.”

everybody hurts, sometImesWeir’s attempt to surpass Tanni Grey-

Thompson’s record of six victories on The

Mall ended in disappointment this year, when

the 33-year-old finished fifth, two seconds

behind winner Kurt Fearnley.

“I was devastated for five or 10 minutes,”

says Weir, with typical understatement.

“But then I realised: I’d had four months off.

You’re not going to get away with that.

“I just didn’t have that final sprint in me.

But I sat there afterwards and thought:

‘Kurt would definitely swap that win for a gold

medal in London, and I got four of them that

are never going to be taken away from me.’

[Though Fearnley does have three Paralympic

golds, from 2004 and 2008.] I had a week off

afterwards to sulk for a bit, and then it drove

me on a bit more. You need to lose to win,

you know? A loss does you good, sometimes.”

Weir’s fifth place might have given his

motivation a boost, but it wasn’t enough to

get him on a plane to Lyon, where the 2013

IPC Athletics World Championships have been

taking place this week. “For me, it was too

much too soon,” he says of the competition

that saw him win three gold medals in 2011.

“It was too much pressure and too much

expectation. I could probably have gone and

just done the marathon at the end, but that’s

not me. If I’m there, I want to do what I did at

the Games. Not competing there just takes

the pressure off me a bit for a year, and

means I can concentrate on getting ready

for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.”

At the Olympic Stadium on Sunday, Weir is

racing in a one-mile exhibition race that gives

the crowd a chance to reprise their Weirwolf

calls of one year ago. With his mind not yet

made up over whether the Rio Paralympics in

2016 is a Games too far, it will also, we hope,

provide the man himself with a reminder of

the winning feeling that started when he

crossed the line for his first gold in London on

September 3 2012 – and stayed with him to

the end of the marathon six days later.

“It’s always going to be tough to match

London 2012 – not only the medals, but

the emotions and the experience of the

whole thing,” he reflects. “At the moment I

have a two-year plan – I’d like to do the

Commonwealths and race for England.

After that, we’ll see if I can get motivated for

another two years.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag

David Weir was

speaking on behalf of

the BMW Performance

Academy, a bespoke

development

programme for

England Rugby’s elite

young players. BMW is

helping to support

player development

through a mentoring

programme with

London 2012 athletes

back on

trackAhead of his return to the track he dominated at last year’s Paralympics, David Weir tells Sport about his life in the limelight and the pain of getting back into peak condition

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Anniversary Games

30 | July 26 2013 |

EntEr thE Bolt

There’s only one man who can save athletics now: with the sport reeling from a series of positive drugs tests, the imperious Usain Bolt returns to the scene of his 2012 Olympic triumphs for this weekend’s Anniversary Games

With the rotten aftertaste from Tyson

Gay and Asafa Powell’s positive

drugs tests lingering, Usain Bolt’s

return to the Olympic Stadium for this

weekend’s Anniversary Games could

not come at a better time. Despite the fact

the triple Olympic champ has been way

below par so far this season, he remains the

best entertainment the sport has to offer –

perhaps even better now for the fact that

he’s no longer the unbeatable behemoth of

the past few seasons.

Which brings us to Britain’s James Dasaolu

(right), who will find himself lining up against

Bolt on Friday night just a few weeks after

running the 100m in a breakthrough 9.91s in

Birmingham. That time saw the 25-year-old

become the second-fastest Brit in history

(behind Linford Christie’s 9.87s in 1993) and

one of the fastest men in the world this year;

three-hundredths of a second quicker than

Bolt himself has managed in 2013. A repeat

performance in the stadium where he was

left disappointed with his semi-final exit

at London 2012 would do nicely, with the

World Championships just weeks away.

The Diamond League event covers Friday

and Saturday, and features star names

including Mo Farah, who is fresh from running

a blistering 1,500m in Monaco. His time of

3:28.81 was quick enough to break Steve

Cram’s 28-year-old 1,500m British record

and earn the double Olympic champion

a European record – not too shabby for

a man who won gold at 5,000m and

10,000m last summer.

Sunday’s action sees the focus shift

to the Paralympians who lit up the

stadium so spectacularly last

summer. David Weir (who’s

interviewed on the previous page),

Jonnie Peacock, Hannah Cockroft and

Richard Whitehead will star in the one-off

IPC International Challenge event, for which

60,000 tickets were snapped up within

24 hours of going on sale.

The drugs cheats might have cast a

dirty great shadow over athletics, but this

weekend is an opportunity for the sport to

remind the world that the genuine athletes

are still out there. And that theirs is a show

well worth watching.

Don’t miss

Women’s 400m hurdles, Friday 8.04pm

British 400m hurdles champion Perri

Shakes-Drayton is up against Olympic

bronze-medallist Zuzana Hejnova.

Men’s 100m , Friday 9.48pm

Usain Bolt and James Dasaolu are joined

by Christophe Lemaitre, Nesta Carter,

Kim Collins and Dwain Chambers.

Women’s 100m hurdles, Saturday 2.11pm

If she’s fit, Jessica Ennis-Hill will take on

fellow Brit Tiffany Porter, as well as Sally

Pearson, Dawn Harper-Nelson and Kellie

Wells – a trio otherwise known as the

Olympic gold, silver and bronze-medallists.

Men’s 3,000m, Saturday 4.32pm

Mo Farah races a distance he’s more

familiar with on a track he planted more

than one kiss on 12 months ago.

Men’s 4x100m, Saturday 4.50pm

Bolt’s back in front of his adoring fans as

part of a Racers Track Club team that will

be tough to beat.

Men’s T43/44 100m, Sunday 5.01pm

Jonnie Peacock takes on a strong field

including Brazil’s Alan Oliveira, who

smashed the T43 200m world record at

the World Championships last weekend.

Men’s T54 mile, Sunday 5.14pm

The Weirwolf gets the honour of closing

the weekend’s action with what should

be another win on a track on which he’s

never been beaten.

it’s on

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32 | July 26 2013 |

Ashes cloud

England and Australia have had two compelling Tests, but dark skies could yet threaten the success of this double-Ashes year

The nail-biting Ashes summers of 2005 and

2009 had more in common than just their

end result of a 2-1 win for England. Both

engrossed the public and saw the country’s

traditional summer sport post a cheeky shot across

the bows of its more popular winter counterpart,

football. Numerous fans who enjoy both could be

overheard bemoaning that August’s start of the

footy season had come too soon: we were all still

absorbed in the cricket.

The first two Tests of this series have been

mesmerising, eventful and hugely popular, but

something is rotten in the state of Ashes cricket.

As close as the first Test at Trent Bridge proved to

be, the gap in quality between the two teams looked

increasingly wide at Lord’s. If England take an

unassailable 3-0 lead in the series at Old Trafford

next week, the football season may find its start

perfectly coincides with the end of the summer

Ashes as a competitive series.

Of course, England cricket supporters who can

remember the 1990s (or, indeed, just as far back as

2007) can point out that Australian fans probably

weren’t wringing their hands in worry when their

side were putting an aggressively baggy green boot

on the England team’s throat. Aiming for 5-0

victories and leaving the opposition scratching

around for consolation wins in dead-rubber Tests

seemed a way of life. The difference is that the

defeated side usually had at least 18 months in which

to lick their wounds and rebuild. This summer’s

Ashes is set to finish on August 25, however, before

it all begins again down under on November 21, just

88 days later. If Australia fail to compete for the last

The Ashes

| 33

By players, for players

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three matches of this summer, the Tests in Australia

could prove less the second course in a feast of

Ashes cricket, more an unwanted gorge that excites

neither a jaded Australian public nor England fans

missing the spice of fierce competition.

Lord’s deflation“English cricket fans would prefer to see a

competitive Australian team than one just getting

steamrollered every game,” claims Sky Sports

pundit and England fast-bowling great Bob Willis.

“There was definitely a feeling of deflation when the

Australian first innings capitulated at Lord’s. It had

been fascinating watching England battle their way

back to a respectable total from 28/3 in the first

innings. Australia started reasonably well, but

when they were bowled out for 128, people thought:

’Oh dear, is this going to be the the theme for the

rest of the series?’ Unless Australia rejig their

team, I fear it is.

“There is definitely a gulf in class in the two

batting line-ups. Australia have one world-class

player in Michael Clarke, and one very good player in

Shane Watson. England probably have four world-

class batsmen and three very good ones. But I think

Australia could improve their side by shifting around

the batting order. I’d make Clarke bat at number

three, I’d move Watson down into the middle order,

to six, and I’d have either [David] Warner or [Phil]

Hughes opening the batting.”

While we can expect changes to the Australian

team before Old Trafford, not least because quick

bowler James Pattinson is now out injured for the

rest of the tour, Australian ESPN Cricinfo writer

Jarrod Kimber points out that Australia’s chopping

and changing hasn’t always worked. “They picked two

guys who weren’t even in the original squad for Trent

Bridge [Steve Smith and Ashton Agar] – and just

before that, they changed their coach and their

wicketkeeper. Before Lord’s, they made two changes,

bringing in Ryan Harris and Usman Khawaja.

So there’s been a lot of reshuffling already. They keep

searching for a ’magic formula’ – so it wouldn’t

surprise me if they do it again, but I doubt it will help.

“You only need to look at Ashton Agar. They were

looking for a 19-year-old saviour yet again. He plays

one Test and they say: ’Look how good he is! He’s

awesome!’ And actually he’s nowhere near good

enough as a bowler at the moment. He replaced

Nathan Lyon, who’d taken nine wickets in his last

Test [against India in March]. He needs to come

back into the side.”

England’s room for improvementA worry for those who want the next three Ashes

Tests to be competitive is that England have won

without even firing on all cylinders. As Willis points

out: “Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott

and Matt Prior haven’t yet batted as well as they

can – so there’s four players there who have yet to

really get going for England. The bowling has been

excellent, but Stuart Broad is due a devastating spell

with the ball. So I can only see England getting better

in this series, rather than it levelling out.”

While England’s batting line-up has been overly

reliant on Ian Bell and is yet to show its full quality,

the best batsman on either side is also still to show

his class. Many speculate that it’s just a matter of

time before the Australian skipper lives up to his 50+

Test batting average, but Kimber is not so sure.

”Michael Clarke’s [often injured] back looks

dreadful. The way he batted against Stuart Broad at

Lord’s, there’s absolutely no doubt that his back is

not working properly. He couldn’t get out of the way

of the short ball – one hit him in the head [above]

and it wasn’t an extraordinary ball, just a normal

bouncer. He goes through peaks and troughs >

“English cricket fans would prefer to see a competitive Australian team than one just getting steamrollered every game”

The Ashes

34 | July 26 2013 |

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with his back, and he’s going to have to deal with

that for the rest of his career. I doubt he’ll play much

[Test cricket] beyond the Ashes in Australia, if at all.

It’s clearly giving him problems – I doubt we have any

of his mammoth innings coming up.”

If results don’t improve for Australia – and the

result is a 4-0 or 5-0 triumph for England this

summer – then Kimber admits the Ashes down

under could be a tricky sell.

“This is the problem,” he says. “If this was a really

exciting, competitive series, then the next series

would be awesome. But we’re at the complete

opposite end to that – and, to be fair to the

administrators [who arranged back-to-back Ashes],

no one knew it was going to be so lop-sided so soon.”

While he admits new coach Darren Lehmann will

benefit from having more time to mould a team of his

own choosing rather than being thrown in at the

deep end, Kimber sees the problems with Australia

as deeper rooted than that. “Based on the length of

contract he was given, Tim Lincoln should still be the

Australia coach,” he says. “And if you don’t know who

Tim Lincoln is, I don’t blame you: because he’s two

coaches back now. That shows me that Cricket

Australia have absolutely no idea what they’re doing.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they try to reshape the

team for the series back in Australia and young

players like Joe Burns and Jordan Silk are picked –

but it’s not like there’s any batting prodigies out there.

There’s no Jonny Bairstows or Joe Roots. The young

players in Australia are a level just below them.”

All eyes on Old TraffordIt may look bleak for Australia, but England will

be wary not to rest on their laurels. After all,

momentum looked to have shifted decisively in

England’s favour after two Tests in the last Ashes

series, before England’s batsmen were alarmingly

bowled out of the game in losing the third Test on the

WACA in Perth. Willis admits that England – even now

– are capable of shooting themselves in the foot on

occasion, while Kimber points out that “England

haven’t actually batted particularly well in this series.

They had to struggle to get runs in both first innings.

Australia have good fast bowlers and someone like

Ryan Harris can run through a team. That’s what

they’re going to need. If Shane Watson just believes

in himself or if Michael Clarke’s back gets better,

an Australian win can happen.”

Willis is also optimistic, both for Australian

chances in home territory and for the continuing

popularity of Ashes cricket. “Australia will certainly

bowl and bat better in their own conditions,” he says.

“They could be a danger. Plus, of course, just 18

months after the Aussie series finishes, they’re back

here again in 2015. So three Ashes series, 15 Ashes

Test matches in two years – but I don’t think there

will be overkill. There may be some desertion from

Aussie cricket fans if they’re getting hammered at

home, but overall the traditions of the contest will

ensure crowds are good both home and away.”

Before we get there, however, we have Old

Trafford next Thursday – and while it’s likely to be

another dry, abrasive surface rather than the

springboard pitch of the WACA, 10 days of

recuperation away from Test cricket will aid

Australia’s dangerous fast bowlers. Whisper it

quietly, but there might be a few England cricket fans

who care about the health of the Test version of the

game hoping for a fully competitive match.

Another one-sided home victory and England will,

much as Steve Waugh’s side did in the 1990s, be

forced to look away from their oldest rival and to

India and South Africa in order to find a meaningful

challenge – and that really would be a crying shame.

No sniggering at the back, please – we’re being at

least semi-serious.

Alex Reid @otheralexreid

Only with Sky Sports can you watch 116 live Barclays

Premier League matches, the Ashes and Formula 1 in HD

and on mobile and tablet devices. Jarrod Kimber is working

on a documentary film about the death of Test cricket,

Death of a Gentleman. Visit deathofagentlemanfilm.com

“It’s not like there’s any batting prodigies out there for Australia. There’s no Jonny Bairstows or Joe Roots”

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36 | July 26 2013 |

How important are this year’s World Championships

for British swimming in the wake of last year’s

disappointment in London?

“They’re as important as any, really. The post-Olympic

year always sees a lot of changes and a lot of

retirements. You kind of move on within the squad,

so there’s a new group of swimmers coming through.

With Bill Furniss and Chris Spice taking over [new

head coach and national performance director,

respectively], they’ll be looking to build towards

the next Olympics in Rio.”

You probably came out best of all of Britain’s

contenders in the pool in London, with that silver

medal. How did that feel?

“It was a career-long goal. It’s something I’ve been

working towards for 10 years – that’s a hell of a long

time to be chasing one medal. But, you know, I love

this lifestyle, I love being a professional athlete. I think

my initial reaction was relief – I really hadn’t prepared

for any other results, and you dread to think what

my psychological state would have been if I hadn’t

got that medal.”

Do you feel any added pressure as a result of

winning that medal?

“I think I do, within myself. I want to be seen to lead

by example, and I’ll be the first to hold my hands up if

I don’t get the results I’m looking for.”

The 2014 Commonwealth Games are in Glasgow,

your hometown. Will you be in a unique position of

being under more scrutiny next year than last?

“Yes, I think it will be more next year. The Scots are

obviously a pretty small but very proud nation, and

it’s not often as athletes that we get a chance to

represent our home nation – so it’s a real special

occasion. It’s just a few miles from home for me – as

close to home as it gets – and after finishing second

at the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi I’m keen to

get on the podium again... and hope to go one better.”

Much like another Scottish sportsman, you moved

abroad at a young age for training. Was going to live

in Paris a difficult decision?

“It was a big decision – but for me it was just part

of the process of striving towards an Olympic medal.

In my mind it wasn’t a tough decision – I thought the

programme that was going to be in place over there

would give me the best opportunity to improve. It was

a no-brainer, really. It was quite good fun to start to

learn French – I wasn’t great, but I knew enough to

get by. It was just some real good life experience.

I wasn’t on any funding at the time, so I was relying

on my parents to fund it, which put them under a

hell of a lot of stress. But, you know, I kind of got

the results that I was looking for in the end, so it

proved worthwhile.”

What’s the biggest sacrifice you’ve had to make to

pursue your swimming career?

“I think over the years it’s relationships. You try

to maintain contact with friends, but no one really

understands the choices you have to make to be

successful as an athlete. I think you have to be

willing to make that sacrifice, and it’s obviously an

unfortunate one, but I would do it again if I could get

these results again. You have such a short shelf life

as an athlete – I’ve got maybe four years left, so

you really have to make the most of that. For the

rest of my career I’ve got a goal as big as London

every season, and that starts with the World

Championships.”

Amit Katwala @amitkatwala

Michael Jamieson is fronting the Speedo Swim Fit campaign

Silver lining

Michael Jamieson’s 200m breaststroke silver was the high point of British Swimming’s London Games. Now he wants to go one better at this week’s World Aquatics Championships

1HIL000014_Crabbies_Press_Ad.indd 2 09/07/2013 10:16

One of horse racing's most iconic social occasions

breaks from the stalls on Tuesday, as the five-day

Glorious Goodwood meeting returns for another

year. Pimm's and one-week-a-year linen suits will

dominate off the track, but there is some serious

sport to look forward to on it as well – and the pick of Ch

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7 DaysJUL 26-AUG 1

HIGHLIGHTS

» Formula 1: Hungarian GP, Romain Grosjean » p42

» Swimming: FINA World Championships » p44

» Rugby League: London Broncos v Wigan Warriors » p44

» Football: Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich » p44

» Golf: Senior British Open » p45OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

WEDNESDAY HORSE RACING | QIPCO SUSSEX STAKES | GOODWOOD | CHANNEL 4 3.05PM

40 | July 26 2013 | Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Duel inthe sun

the bunch from an intriguing week's racing is

Wednesday's Sussex Stakes.

For the second time in three years, the Group 1

race over a mile is being billed as a 'Duel on the

Downs' between two top-class colts. The reality

didn't quite justify the hype back in 2011, when

the mighty Frankel ran all over the much-vaunted

Canford Cliffs, but this year's contest promises to be

a cracker between two three-year-olds who have

previous: Dawn Approach and Toronado.

The former has come out on top in both meetings

this season, in the 2000 Guineas and at Royal Ascot

(above) – but Toronado came within a short head of

reversing the form in that encounter, and jockey

Richard Hughes is convinced he would have done so

without the interference he suffered in a messy race.

If both turn up on top form once again next week,

we could be in for one of the clashes of the season.

On Saturday, meanwhile, the leading middle-

distance horses in Europe converge on Ascot for the

King George Stakes (Channel 4, 3.50pm). In the

absence of antepost favourite St Nicholas Abbey,

who suffered a career-ending injury on Tuesday,

French raider Cirrus des Aigles leads the market –

but he has something to prove after one poor run

this season, so the value may lie elsewhere. Step

forward the talented three-year-old Hillstar, who

trainer Sir Michael Stoute added to the field on

Monday at a cost of £75,000. Owner Sir Evelyn de

Rothschild doesn't sound like a man short of a few

bob, but Stoute doesn't mess about and his horse,

crucially, has winning form over course and distance.

42 | July 26 2013 |

7 Days

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

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SUNDAY FORMULA 1 | HUngARiAn gRAnd PRix | HUngARORing, BUdAPEST | Sky SPORTS F1 1PM

Turning a corner?

A reputation is a hard thing to shake in sport

– just ask Lotus driver Romain Grosjean.

The Frenchman heads into the Hungarian

Grand Prix off the back of an impressive

podium finish in Germany, but for all of his

progress in recent weeks he is still trying to

lose his label as a reckless driver. That tag

was not unfairly handed to him, either, after

he caused a five-car pile-up in Belgium 12

months ago – it was the seventh time in

12 races that he had been involved in a

first-lap crash.

“It was so harsh that it was almost not

real,” he says when recounting the first-lap

incident and subsequent one-race ban

handed down by the FIA. “It was hard for

me [to accept] and not fun, but it’s about

the things you learn from it.”

Grosjean sought guidance from a sports

psychologist to tackle his first-lap nerves –

a move he insists has helped him both on and

off the track. “The weakness would be to

hide it, to hide yourself and not see anyone,”

he explains. “For me it’s being intelligent,

because you can improve yourself. If you look

at the data after qualifying or practice to

improve yourself [on the track] and you can

do the same by seeing someone, then why

not do it?”

While Grosjean has done his utmost to

improve himself, his new attitude is yet to be

Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix

could prove pivotal in Romain

Grosjean’s F1 future, but the

under-fire Frenchman says he

is learning from his mistakes

translated into improvements on the circuit.

So far this season he has scored just 41 points

– 20 fewer than at the same stage last year –

and while third last time out hints at a turning

tide, 2013 has been plagued with frustrations.

“I think the picture we are showing today

is not exactly the truth,” he says. “We started

the year and struggled a bit with something

that was not suiting me well. If you look at the

results, it’s simply not as good as we could

have been – but I think there’s plenty of

positives with what’s going on, and that’s

motivating us to keep working.”

Grosjean’s frustrations have been

compounded by comments from other

drivers about his erratic style, ranging from

Mark Webber labelling him as a “first-lap

nutcase” to Daniel Ricciardo branding him

“an idiot” after the two collided in the latter

stages of the Monaco Grand Prix.

So what does Grosjean himself make of

the criticisms heading his way?

“People like to speak, they like to find

things to criticise,” he says. “I wasn’t happy

with myself, but it wasn’t like it was turn one

where I’ve tried something. Criticism is part

of the game. One day you’re a zero, the next

day you’re a hero. It goes up and down, and I

really don’t read much about all those things.

I’m the first one to know what I did right and

what I did wrong, and that’s what counts

for me. If I can improve from there, then that’s

what’s important.”

Grosjean is currently on a probationary

contract with Lotus, which is reviewed every

three races by team principal Eric Boullier.

But while his relationships with other drivers

are strained to the point of breaking, he has

a comrade in Boullier.

“We speak very often, and it’s important

to have a very good relationship with your

manager, with the team and with everyone,”

Grosjean says.

While the rest of the field were calling

for his head last year, it was his compatriot

who defended him, offering support for

the 27-year-old. And while his showing a

fortnight ago is some vindication for

Boullier’s decision to stick by him, Grosjean

knows that he has to change to prove his

worth in F1.

“I want to go into the future with Lotus and

be world champion with them one day. And

we are building to it. I hope so – I dream.”

Simon Knights @SimonKnights

Suremen is an official partner of the Lotus

F1® Team. It has launched the new Lotus F1®

Team Special Edition deodorant range.

Visit suremen.co.uk

Over the top:

Grosjean’s car (left)

clips Lewis Hamilton’s

before launching over

the top of Fernando

Alonso’s (right, in mid

air) in Spa last year

44 | July 26 2013 |

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Saturday Rugby League | ChaLLenge Cup: London bRonCos v Wigan WaRRioRs | Leigh spoRts ViLLage | bbC tWo 5pm Sunday > sWimming | Fina WoRLd Championships | paLau sant JoRdi, baRCeLona | bRitish euRospoRt 9am

Saturday FootbaLL | dFL-supeRCup: boRussia doRtmund v bayeRn muniCh | WestFaLLenstadion, doRtmund | espn 7.30pm

Britain's first World

Championships in the post-

Rebecca Adlington era sees the

nation's swimmers attempt to draw

a thick line beneath what was a

thoroughly deflating Olympics.

Adlington's pair of bronze

medals in London was

accompanied by an impressive

silver for Michael Jamieson in

the 200m breaststroke (he's

interviewed back on page 36). But

the rest of the British team failed to

deliver, leaving them short of UK

Sport's target of between five and

seven medals.

It provoked a rethink all round,

with Adlington's coach Bill Furniss

called in to replace Dennis Pursley

as head coach at British Swimming,

his stated aim being to “convert

finalists into medallists”.

One of the differences he

implemented was to hold the

British trials for the World

Championships immediately ahead

of the athletes' final training

camps. In the past, trials had been

held months ahead, meaning that

those selected weren't always the

form horses come the main event.

In Barcelona, Furniss is promising

a team that is “focused around

Olympic events and current form...

I believe this tighter focus will give

us every chance to succeed”.

Jamieson aside, medal hopes

will rest with Hannah Miley (below),

who won gold at the Short Course

World Championships in Istanbul

last year, but could manage only

fifth in the 400m individual medley

in London, and Fran Halsall, who

reached four finals (from five

events) last summer, but could

come no closer to a medal than

two fifth-placed finishes.

Barcelona is where the journey

to Rio begins – and, in the case of

British Swimming, where London

2012 hopefully gets left

far behind.

Leaving London

European royaltyIt's a sign of the growing strength

of the Bundesliga that their

equivalent of the Community

Shield is a repeat of the

Champions League final,

while ours includes Wigan.

So, two months after Bayern

Munich's 2-1 win at Wembley,

they visit Borussia Dortmund's

yellow wall for what will be a first

competitive game in charge for

former Barcelona head coach Pep

Guardiola (right). Mario Gotze's

hamstring stopped him from

playing for Dortmund in that final,

and the same injury will likely

prevent him facing his former club

now that he's a Bayern employee.

Thiago Alcântara will be available

for the Bundesliga champions,

however – he looked set for a move

to Manchester United until Pep

swooped in to capture him.

Dortmund and Jurgen Klopp,

meanwhile, have rebuilt their

ransacked squad with the coveted

Armenian midfielder Henrikh

Mkhitaryan (also out injured for

the start of the season) and pacy

French forward Pierre-Emerick

Aubameyang. Games between

these two are always exciting,

cerebral affairs, and this should

be no exception.

Elsewhere, the Women's Euro

2013 draws to a close on Sunday

(BBC Two, 3pm). The semi finals

were yet to be played as we went

to press, so we can't tell you

much more than that.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 45

Mission impossible?The London Broncos go into the Tetley’s Challenge

Cup semi final against Wigan on Saturday looking

to create one of the biggest shocks since Sheffield

Eagles beat the same opponents in the 1998 final.

If form is anything to go by, then the Warriors

should make short work of the Super League's

bottom club. However, a number of key players,

including Sam Tomkins and Sean O’Loughlin,

missed their defeat at St Helens on Monday, and

there could be more casualties following that

bruising encounter. And the Broncos have a taste

for giant-killing already this season, having

dumped the Bradford Bulls out in the fourth

round (pictured).

So, do they have a chance of getting to Wembley?

“You’ve always got a chance,” says Martin Offiah,

the Hackney-born wing who played in four

Challenge Cup finals for Wigan and featured for the

Broncos in their sole appearance in the final in 1999.

“The only way you’re going to win this game is on

emotion – but it can happen. This is when you find

out about yourself. Have you been doing the right

pre-season training? Are you really fit? If you’re not,

you’re going to be found out; but if you are, you’ve

got a chance.”

In the other semi final, cup holders Warrington,

who have appeared in three of the last four finals,

play Hull FC on Sunday (BBC Two, 6pm).

The Challenge Cup final at Wembley is one of the great sporting events of the British summer

– and you can be at this year's final, on Saturday August 24, for half price! We have teamed up

with the RFL to offer up to 250 tickets in the upper tier, worth £41, for just £20.50 each.

To take advantage of this offer, simply visit rugbyleaguetickets.co.uk, select an

upper tier block containing £41 seats and enter the promotional code SPORTMAG.

Alternatively, call on 0844 856 1113.

Tickets limited to £41 seats in Wembley’s upper tier. Blocks with £41 seats must be

selected when purchasing. Offer ends 1pm on Monday July 29.

Friday > goLF | senioR bRitish open | RoyaL biRkdaLe | sky spoRts 1 11.30am

Monty targets old MajorAfter the thrills of the

final day of the Open

Championship at Muirfield

last Sunday, this weekend

sees the old-timers do

their thing at the Senior

British Open.

Royal Birkdale –

probably, after Muirfield,

the next best course on the

Open rota – is the venue,

and there will be plenty of

familiar (old) faces in the

event, which got under

way yesterday.

Colin Montgomerie

(left), who turned 50 last

month, makes his third

start as a senior. He has

played two Majors in the

US so far, finishing 32nd

and ninth, and will be

desperate to do what he

never could on the regular

tour – namely, land one of

the big ones.

The standard among

the over-50s gets better

every year, though, and

defending champion Fred

Couples will be the man to

beat. He finished a very

creditable 32nd at Muirfield

last weekend, closing with

a fine level-par 71. He has

form at Birkdale too, having

finished third there behind

Ian Baker-Finch in the 1991

Open. Fond memories, if he

can recall that far back.

Reader

offer

46 | July 26 2013 | Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Panasonic KX-PRW120

Only one household object goes missing

more regularly than your keys – and that’s

the landline handset, so this home phone’s

optional ability to locate your keys is a little

perplexing. It also has Smartphone Connect,

so you can make calls from your mobile

via the landline or vice versa.

£100 | Mid-August from currys.co.uk

Beats by Dr Dre Neon Mixr

The famous headphones have been given

a colour makeover by the good doctor,

perhaps inspired by the lollipops he hands

out to children who visit his surgery on the

village green. They’re now available in a host

of highlighter shades, from pink to the green

featured here. Just what the doctor ordered.

£220 | beatsbydre.com

Lytro

The world’s first consumer ‘light-field’

camera arrives in the UK. Lytro’s special

sensor lets it capture the direction light came

from as well as its colour and intensity, which

means you can refocus pictures after you’ve

taken them, or change the perspective. The

effect is mind-boggling. Truly revolutionary.

£400 | From August at johnlewis.co.uk

EXtRa tiMEMaking the most of your time and money

P54

Splinter Cell:

Blacklist.

Make them

believe you’re

everywhere

On the red linethe HtC One is arguably the prettiest

phone to hit pockets in the past year, and it’s

now available in sensual ‘Glamour Red’. Chris de

Burgh will be beside himself with excitement.

On a a slightly more topical note, it runs HTC’s own

take on the Android operating system, and still

includes the same lovely machined aluminium

casing as its silver brethren, with the same

quad-core processor and full HD 4.7-inch screen.

Free from £31/month | Only at phones4u.co.uk

Gadgets

UPGRADE YOUR SOUNDbeats neon mixr £219.99

SSOO UU

EXCLUSIVE COLOUR

Subject to availability, while stocks last

we are entertainment

£219.99

@hmvtweets/hmv

ET

48 | July 26 2013 | Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Speedo Tri Elite Full-

Sleeved Wetsuit

Built for speed, buoyancy and

thermal protection, the Tri Elite

is constructed from flexible and

light Y39 neoprene and has

stitch-free seams for comfort

and a hydrodynamic profile.

Its Vortex pockets expand

during the catch phase of your

stroke, pushing you forward.

£450 | store.speedo.co.uk

Giant Defy 5 (2013)

Giant’s boast that the Defy 5

“redefines the performance

possibilities of an entry-level

road bike” because it “climbs,

corners and sprints better than

bikes costing thousands more”

is a big one – but it stands up,

with its premium lightweight

aluminium frame and Shimano

2300 eight-speed shifting.

That frame should also give you

the longevity to enjoy a few

upgrades – and it’s guaranteed

not to be as flimsy as its carbon

counterparts you’ll see ridden

by your competition. And

should you not want to risk your

own trusted steed in the race

itself, triuk.com will be kind

enough to let you hire one.

£499 | triuk.com

Skechers GOrun 2

The next generation of serious

minimal running shoe, say

Skechers, designed for speed

with innovative performance

technologies to promote a

midfoot strike. Works as a great

transitional shoe to help foster

a barefoot running experience.

Also comes in grey/green,

black/grey and blue.

£71 | skechers.co.uk

Maxifuel Recovermax

If it’s good enough for the

Brownlee brothers – who

notched up another 1-2 last

week in Hamburg – it’s good

enough for you. Recovermax

is a carbohydrate and protein

sports-recovery drink that helps

muscles repair and recover after

intense exercise. Available in

orange or strawberry flavour.

£29.99, 750g | maxishop.com

TRi HaRD WiTH a vEnGEancEIt’s the Virgin Active London Triathlon this weekend. You’re almost certainly too late to enter if you haven’t already, but here’s all you need for next time

Bose SiE2 Sport

Headphones

Specifically engineered for

exercise as well as being sweat

and weather-resistant, the SIE2s

stay comfortably in place and

deliver tonally balanced audio

with crisp highs and deep low

notes – much like our breathing.

They also come with a Reebok

armband to hold your device.

£104.95 | bose.co.uk

Kit

Neither should anyone’s son. Or Grandad. No cousins or nephews. Not the boys from the rugby club or the lads from the pub. No boyfriends or husbands or father-in-laws. Not the chap from the chip shop or the noisy lads at the back of the bus. Not your best mate. Not a single stranger. No one whatsoever.

No one should face cancer alone.With your support, no one will.

Text DAD to 70550 and donate £5 today.

Texts cost £5 plus your network charge. We receive 94p of every £1 donated in this way. Obtain bill payer’s permission first.

Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). MAC14175_07_13

MAC14175_Golf_Ball_Sports_Magazine_232x300.indd 1 05/07/2013 12:26

ET Grooming

50 | July 26 2013 | Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Travel light, hold firm

Fish Minis

The Fish Salon in Soho has transformed three of its best-selling styling

products into handy mini-sized versions, perfect for travel or trial. It’s

crammed the Fishfingers Shape Defining Wax, Fishshape Texturising

Cream and Stonefish Matt Texturising Clay into pocket-sized pots so

you can mould, sculpt, texturise, define and shape your hair in pretty

much any situation, whenever your fragile ego demands.

£2.99 each for 25ml | Boots stores nationwide

Shower, shampoo, shave

Wingman 3-in-1

Designed so that the maverick in you can carry his three essentials in one

bottle, Wingman’s formula cleanses like an invigorating shower gel and

shampoo as well as providing a moisturising aloe vera edge to deliver a

close shave. It comes in three flavours: Fuel (wood, spice and, er, aviation

fuel), Charge (grapefruit, lemon, mandarin and coconut) and Boom

(spearmint and peppermint). Now go embarrass yourself with Goose.

£3.49 each for 250ml | tesco.com

Invictus, Paco RabanneMeaning ‘unconquerable’ in Latin, Invictus is also

a Victorian poem by William Ernest Henley, who

contracted tuberculosis of the bone as a teenager

and had his leg amputated below the knee. He was

moved to write it during his recovery, ending with

the lines: “I am the master of my fate: I am the

captain of my soul.” PR is confident you too

can master your own fate with a composition of

marine accord, grapefruit zest and bay leaf, giving

way to a woody amber accord, guaiac wood and

patchouli. “Addictive yet ultra-masculine,” says PR.

£57 for 100ml | boots.com from Monday

naME on ThE TRoPhyNot yours – Paco Rabanne’s. Get your hands on his new eau de

toilette, however, and Paco will be your wingman any time

The new fragrance

iPad edition on Newsstand now

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| 53

54 | July 26 2013 | Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

The Bureau: XCOM

Declassified

Set against the backdrop of

the Cold War, this third-person

tactical shooter takes place in an

alternate reality where you’ll find

yourself leading teams against

aliens that have invaded the US.

Outnumbered and outgunned,

you’ll need a steady trigger

finger and a good strategic

mind to emerge victorious.

Released August 23

Lost Planet 3

What used to be an ambitious

but underachieving shooter

series with giant robots has

become a much stronger

action game – with even more

giant robots. The cover-based

shooting is familiar, sure, but

the mech combat is improved.

It’s first-person, more involving,

and makes you feel like a

super-powered robo-god.

Released August 30

Splinter Cell: BlacklistDeveloped with a very clear goal in

mind: to merge the pure stealth of

the original Splinter Cell games with

the fast-paced action of the most

recent outing, Conviction. And it

promises to succeed.

The single-player campaign is

as varied as it is action-packed,

plus the gadgetry at your disposal

puts Bond’s toys to shame. You’re

rewarded with perks depending

on how you play the game – so if

you prefer stealth over running and

gunning, you’ll unlock gadgets that

make you the perfect silent killer; opt

for brute force and you’re rewarded

with more powerful weapons.

The much-loved Spies vs. Mercs

multiplayer mode returns, too, with

subtle tweaks to the core gameplay

that – combined with an all-new

four-versus-four Blacklist mode –

help make this the quintessential

Splinter Cell experience.

Released August 23

Saints Row IV

The series’ open-

world playground

is a bit like a

science fiction

version of Grand

Theft Auto, only

with cruder jokes

and weapons such as the alien

anal probe. In fact, its humour

is so low-brow it wallows in

the gutter. Case in point: this

latest instalment has been

refused classification in Australia

because of the aforementioned

weapon. But if you can get past

that, Saints Row IV is a goofy

romp in which fun – not story or

logic – is king. It looks like more

of an upgrade to Saints Row: The

Third rather than a proper sequel

in its own right, but any game in

which you can “administer the

biggest smackdown in the history

of mankind” gets our vote.

Released August 23

SAInTS AnD SInneRS

eT Games Save America (and, therefore, the world) from terrorist attacks or extraterrestrial invasion –

and help “take our independence back from the anal-probing overlords that oppress us”

The Wonderful 101

This eccentric Wii U exclusive

puts at your disposal a team of

superheroes who team up to

form enormous weapons with

which to fend off alien invaders.

Your aim is to find and recruit

helpless citizens to your army

of heroes. Fast, fun and a truly

memorable blast thanks to its

mix of unique gameplay and

quirky humour.

Released August 23

Disney Infinity

First impressions pitch this as

a terrifyingly efficient money-

spinner and little else, but while

there’s an onus on collecting

figures that can be synthesised

and used in the game – much

like Skylanders – don’t write it

off as one for the kids just yet.

Creative, playful and preserves

the soul of the characters and

places it brings to life.

Released August 20

In association with

PS3, Xbox, PC, Wii U PS3, Xbox, PC

PS3, Xbox, PC PS3, Xbox, PC Wii U PS3, Xbox, PC, Wii, 3DS

Best Dad in the World? You will be with the new Fiat 500L Trekking. Arm your kids with the perfect playground verbal ammunition when you scoop them and all their mates up. This 5-seater cruiser has a range of features including beefy 17" diamond-fi nished alloy wheels with bold arches, tinted windows, City Brake Control, plus Traction+ for when the great British summer goes south. Dad 1. The Rest 0. End of.

Fiat, the car brand with the lowest average CO2 emissions in Europe .̂ Fuel consumption figures for the Fiat 500L Trekking range in mpg (l/100km): Urban 33.6 (8.4) – 60.1 (4.7); Extra Urban 53.3 (5.3) – 74.3 (3.8); Combined 44.1 (6.4) – 67.3 (4.2). CO2 emissions 149 – 109 g/km. Fuel consumption and CO2 figures based on standard EU tests for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results.^Source: JATO Dynamics. Based on volume-weighted average CO2 emissions (g/km) of the best selling brands in Europe, full year 2012.

f i a t . c o . u k