SOMETIME in the next couple of weeks, Richard Kilty will almost certainly be stripped of the silver medal he won in the 4x100m relay at Tokyo.

As a result of CJ Ujah testing positive for two banned substances, one of which is an anabolic agent, the Teesside sprinter and his other two relay team-mates will be disqualified and removed from the final standings of last month’s Olympic final, even though they have done nothing wrong. The reward for a lifetime of commitment, toil and sacrifice, stripped away by the stroke of an anti-doping official’s pen.

It is important to stress at this juncture that it is only right and proper that Kilty loses his medal. For all that Ujah, who ran the opening leg of the Olympic final, continues to protest his innocence, both his ‘A’ sample and ‘B’ sample have delivered positive results.

The case has now been referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) Anti-Doping Division, who will rule on whether to strip the British team of their medals, but the guidance provided by the Olympic regulations could hardly be clearer: “Where the athlete who has committed an anti-doping rule violation competed as a member of a relay team, the relay team shall be automatically disqualified from the event in question – including the forfeiture of all titles, awards, medals, points and prize and appearance money.”

It is an open-and-shut case, but that does not mean it is not a crying shame for Kilty, whose performances in Tokyo should have provided the crowning moments of his career. Similarly, it does not mean that the 32-year-old’s athletic achievements should be tainted by something he had absolutely no control over.

When he eventually retires – and given his age, there is a good chance that will be before the next Olympic Games in Paris – the ‘Teesside Tornado’ should be remembered as one of the North-East’s greatest ever athletes. He is certainly the best male or female sprinter that the region has produced.

Not only does he boast individual gold medals from both the World and European Indoor Championships, he has also won relay golds as part of the GB team at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Just as impressively, he has battled against considerable adversity in order to continue pursuing his career. His controversial exclusion from the British team at the London Olympics is a snub that will no doubt continue to hurt him today, with Kilty being overlooked despite having achieved the qualifying time for the Games.

He was removed from UK Athletics’ funding programme in the wake of London 2012, and was forced to arrange his own training runs on the footpaths along the banks of the River Tees in order to maintain his fitness.

He briefly considered giving up athletics altogether in order to join the Army, but was persuaded to continue by his family and friends. By the end of 2013, he had been partially restored to the UK funding programme, although even then only in the ‘podium potential’ bracket which provided limited support, and by 2014, he was producing the breakthrough performance in Poland which earned him the World Indoor title.

He provides the perfect example of refusing to give in, and should be regarded as an inspirational role model who has survived countless setbacks in order to make it at the very highest level.

Perhaps, when the dust settles and the CAS delivers its ruling, he will no longer have an Olympic medal to show for his efforts. He will always have the memory of that Tokyo run though, and the knowledge that he has emerged from one of British athletics’ biggest crises with his reputation intact and his image entirely clean.


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WITH Sunderland Ladies and Durham Women both riding high in the FA Women’s Championship, the North-East is regaining its status as a hotbed of women’s football.

So, with that in mind, after the Football Association yesterday announced the staging of a new invitational four-nation women’s tournament to be held in England, with the inaugural edition due to take place next February, it would be nice to think that the governing body would ensure some of the matches were staged in our region.

Next year, the Women’s European Championships will be held in England, but none of the ten host venues are situated in the North-East or North, West or East Yorkshire.

Sheffield and Rotherham will stage matches, along with Manchester and Leigh, but the organisers decided to ignore the North-East despite Sunderland Ladies’ remarkable record for producing key members of the England team.

That was a mistake, but the FA’s new tournament provides an opportunity to at least partially rectify it. Yesterday’s statement said the venues for next year’s matches will be announced “in the coming weeks”. It is to be hoped there is a North-East name among them.


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LAST Sunday saw Tyneside stage the Great North Run, and this weekend sees Croft Racetrack play host to the British Touring Car Championship. On Sunday, Newcastle Falcons kick off their new campaign in the Gallagher Premiership with a home game against reigning champions Harlequins, while next week, Durham will wrap up their County Championship campaign with a trip to Gloucestershire.

The North-East is often described as ‘football mad’ – and it is. But it is also a region that champions and enjoys a wide range of other sports. That variety is something that should be cherished in an era when the financial and cultural clout of football can sometimes overshadow everything else that is going on.