July 2021

Fans attending sports venues with a capacity of around 20,000 or more may be required to show proof of full vaccination from the end of September, under plans being considered by the government.

The BBC understands that the definition of what constitutes a large crowd and the type of venues that would fall under that label is yet to be determined.

Downing Street said on Tuesday it was focusing on “enclosed indoor environments”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are not looking to draw lines around any particular parameters.

“I think the teacher [Jonathan] van Tam and the PM talked about the kind of areas where we would look at enclosed spaces where large groups of people are gathered.

“We’re going to look at the latest data which is currently very much focused on nightclubs. But we’ll be looking at the data here and around the world to determine what the best approach is.”

A government spokesperson said: “As the Prime Minister has said, we reserve the right to do what is necessary to protect the public and reduce transmission, including making Covid certification mandatory in certain settings. .

“We are working closely with organizations that operate large crowded environments, where people are likely to be in close proximity to other people outside their household, to encourage the use of the NHS Covid pass where appropriate. “

Indoor venues should be treated differently than outdoor venues, and sports organizations have been known to seek clarification on this.

The Racecourse Association (RCA), for example, said it would speak to government and industry stakeholders “to understand the details of this plan”, and said it would be an “operation important logistics.

The RCA added: “It is essential that horse racing and the wider sport/leisure economies have contingency plans to prevent commercially damaging restrictions from being reimposed, but also allow us to run events safely”.

The UK government has allowed crowd capacity at Wembley to be increased to over 60,000 for the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final.

Allowed under the government’s event search programme, fans attending Wembley had to meet a number of strict entry conditions, including having a negative Covid-19 test or proof of full vaccination.

Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said on Monday that nightclubs and other such venues could be “potential superspreading events” because of crowds in close contact.

A capacity crowd of 140,000 participated in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday – the biggest crowd for a sporting event in the UK since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

There, all adults had to provide proof of full vaccination or be in possession of a negative test.

In Scotland, The Rangers have been cleared to have 17,000 fans in attendance for their Scottish Premiership opener against Livingston on July 31.

In May, Premier League chief executive Bill Bush told the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus that a “one-size-fits-all magic wand like a vaccine passport” would be “too narrow and too prescriptive”.

He said he wanted to work with the government on a “wider” solution to certification at events.

It is understood that consultations with Premier League clubs on the approach that will be taken to checking fans entering stadiums next season are ongoing.

Most of us can name a few Olympic sports from the Summer and Winter Games. We might even have a favorites or two that we like to watch.

But it might surprise you to learn that the sports that have come to be sacred Olympic events have changed from time to time. Just as surfing and skateboarding have entered the games relatively recently, games periodically undergo pruning.

10 forgotten Olympic sports

Present at the Olympic Games at the turn of the 20th century, these 10 sports once occupied a key place in the games, before they are relegated to the memories of the past.

1. Live pigeon shooting

This event only happened once at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. After protests from animal rights activists, future Games instead traded live pigeons for clay birds.

2. Croquet

The first of the Olympic sports that women could play, according to The coolist, croquet also only featured once, again, at the 1900 Games.

3. Dive from a distance

Making their debut at a single Olympic Games, the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, the distance diving contestants dived into a pool and stood still for a minute; the athlete who slipped the furthest wins. Five men participated in the event, all Americans; William Dickey won gold with a distance of almost 63 feet.

4. Motor boat

Assisting a motor doesn’t sound very sporty, does it? The motorboat was an official Olympic event only at the 1908 Games in London from April 27 to October 31. Not too impressive by today’s Olympic sporting standards – back then top speeds were only 19 mph.

5. Pistol duel

The 1908 Games also featured pistol duels in which two male competitors shot each other with pistols loaded with wax bullets; the athletes wore protective equipment for the torso, face and hands.

6. One-handed weightlifting

Similar to modern snatch lifting, one-handed weightlifting was introduced at the Olympics in 1896, 1904, and 1906.

7. Poodle cut

As part of the Paris Olympics in 1900, the poodle cut was a trial event in which 128 people competed in front of a crowd of 6,000 spectators to see who could cut the fur of the greatest number of poodles. in two hours.

8. Tug of war

An Olympic event from 1900 to 1920, tug of war involved beefy competitors pulling a rope until the midpoint passed a certain point in the opposing team’s territory, signaling victory. Just like the summer camp.

9. 200-meter swimming obstacle course

Held on the Seine in Paris during the 1900 Games, the 200-meter swimming obstacle course involved competitors swimming under a row of boats and scaling a pole and another row of boats, while facing the current of the river. The swimming obstacle course never returned to the Olympics.

10. Two-handed javelin

This event took place once – at the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Athletes were not required to throw the two-handed javelin. Instead, each competitor threw the javelin three times in their right hand and three times in their left hand. The best distance with each hand was totaled to determine the winner.

Which Olympic sports would you like to see return? Which should remain in the history books? Email us at digitalcontentradio@bonneville.com and let us know what you think.

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UK government reportedly consider introducing vaccine passports from September to prevent large gatherings from being mass-market events after restrictions end on Monday

Sporting events with an attendance of around 20,000 or more spectators may require proof of full vaccination, according to reports.

Plans being considered by the UK government would see the decision take effect from the end of September.

At a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined his intention to use the certification in nightclubs and “other places where large crowds congregate”.

Chief Science Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance added that this was because they were “potential super-spread events” due to the crowds in close contact.

This is a deviation from when the government allowed more than 60,000 people to attend the Euro 2020 semi-finals and final at Wembley earlier this month.

The matches were overseen by the Events Research Program, in which a negative Covid-19 test or full proof of vaccination would allow you to enter the stadium, among other strict regulations.

It shared similarities with how adults gained access to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, where the crowd of 140,000 was the largest for a sporting event in the UK since the start of the pandemic.

Now, however, it looks like the tests could be out of date and vaccine passports will be king.

BBC Sport claim that the definition of what constitutes a large crowd and potential venues has yet to be finalized.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are not trying to draw lines around particular parameters.

“I think the teacher [Jonathan] van Tam and the Prime Minister talked about the type of areas where we would consider confined spaces where large groups of people are gathered.

“We’re going to look at the latest data which is currently very club-centric. But we’ll be looking at the data both here and around the world to determine what the best approach is.”

A government spokesperson explained, “As the Prime Minister said, we reserve the right to do whatever is necessary to protect the public and reduce transmission, including making Covid certification mandatory in certain contexts.

“We work closely with organizations that operate large, overcrowded spaces, where people are likely to be in close proximity to other people outside of their homes, to encourage use of the NHS Covid pass, where applicable. . “

Should vaccine passports be implemented for watching sports with large crowds? Write your review below.

The reports have confused sports governing bodies both indoors and outdoors, with the Racecourse Association saying dialogue would be needed between the government and relevant stakeholders “to understand the details of this plan.” and described it as “an important logistics operation”. “

RCA added: “It is essential that horse racing and the wider sports / recreation economies have contingency plans to avoid commercially damaging restrictions being reimposed, but also allow us to run safe events. . “

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that spectators would not need proof of vaccination when the restrictions were lifted on Monday, July 19, although some sports clubs requested a negative test to attend.

English Football League chief executive Trevor Birch commented on the situation, saying EFL “will remain vigilant” in its preparations and “continue to engage” with its clubs and the authorities.

“We have said for a long time that bringing fans back to our stadiums is an economic necessity for EFL clubs, which have lost millions in the past year and now need to be able to plan with clarity on and off the pitch “said Birch.

“After enjoying the peaks of Euro 2020 after England until the final this summer, fans across the country will now count the days until they can return to watch their beloved teams in nobody, and we know the clubs have been working really hard behind the scenes to make plans to welcome fans safely. “

A seven-year effort to build a $ 100 million sports and events complex in Eau Claire has been approved by the University of Wisconsin’s Board of System Regents. The facility will replace a 70-year-old arena at UW-Eau Claire and would be the largest event center in the Chippewa Valley.

In August 2014, UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Jim Schmidt announced that alumni John and Carolyn Sonnentag were donating 30 acres of land along the Chippewa River near the university’s lower campus. The property was an industrial site and Schmidt said the gift was worth around $ 10 million. At the time, the Sonnentags requested that the land be used to build a replacement for UW-Eau Claire’s 3,500-seat Zorn Arena, which was built in 1951.

UW-Eau Claire and the Mayo Clinic Health System will share space in the approximately 186,550 square foot building, which is expected to be completed in 2024.

UW’s board of directors on Thursday asked UW System staff to contract with UW-Eau Claire to lease approximately 170,500 square feet in the complex. The university space will include a 60-yard indoor sports complex, a 5,000-seat event space and an on-campus fitness center.

The Mayo Clinic will lease approximately 19,000 square feet of the building for a sports medicine and medical imaging clinic. The clinic also works with the university on things like student internships.

The building itself will be owned by a non-profit organization known as the Eau Claire Community Complex, with board members from the Eau Claire community, the Mayo Clinic and the UW. -Clear water.

The university will provide approximately $ 75 million in funding for the project through the increase in separate tuition fees for students, which were approved by referendum in April. The Mayo Clinic will provide approximately $ 15 million in funding for its part.

Schmidt told WPR that the seven-year effort to create the region’s largest sports and events center would not have been possible without the unanimous vote of the regents.

“I also appreciated the overwhelming response from the Regents, the understanding of the importance of philanthropy in this project, the community partnership and how this will be an engine of economic development for western Wisconsin,” he said. -he declares.

Schmidt said the building will meet the recreational needs of students, provide a new home for men’s and women’s basketball, and foster new collaborations between the school’s nursing and health programs and the Mayo Clinic.

He said the proposed construction start date is spring 2022.

“We’ll see how things go in the fall, whether something sooner is possible or not,” Schmidt said.

Regents also approved the UW system on Thursday annual operating budget, which keeps tuition fees for residents and undergraduates at a stable level. The zero percent increase comes as Republican state lawmakers lifted an eight-year freeze on tuition fee increases for undergraduate residents that went into effect in 2013.

LAS CRUCES – In an announcement made Tuesday by New Mexico State Athletics Director Mario Moccia, all New Mexico state athletic venues will return to 100% attendance capacity for the 2021-22 season. Full stadium operating procedures, pre-match tailgating and all match day experiences will also be in full force for the 2021-22 academic year.

Tuesday’s announcement follows New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s announcement on Friday that the state will withdraw its county-by-county color-coding system and all COVID-19 health restrictions on business operations and daily in July 1.

Season tickets for the 2021 NM State football season are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the Pan Am Center box office at 575-646-1420 or visiting the online shopping portal available at this link. NM State’s 2021 schedule includes five games at Aggie Memorial Stadium, including games with UTEP (August 28), South Carolina State (September 18), Hawaii (September 25), Utah State (6 November) and UMass (November 27).

NM State officials and athletics teams are delighted to welcome fans to venues all around the NM State campus. Aggie Athletics will continue to work with university, local and state authorities to monitor and follow health and safety protocols based on current conditions in order to maintain a safe and exciting game atmosphere for all Aggie fans.