Manchester gears up for Games

18 June 2002

With the Commonwealth Games less than six weeks away, Manchester enjoyed a glorious weekend of sport which served as an ideal taster for what to expect from 25 July – 4 August.

Jade Johnson in action at the City of Manchester Stadium

While England’s top athletes were competing in the City of Manchester Stadium at the Commonwealth Trials, the new state-of-the-art facilities at Heaton Park (bowls), Belle Vue (hockey) and Rivington Pike (mountain biking) also hosted major events to ensure the venues will be ready for the multi-sport extravaganza next month.

Dwain Chambers, Janine Whitlock and Chris Tomlinson all put in great performances to clinch their places in the England team for next month’s Games, whilst invited Commonwealth athletes such as Olympic Gold medallist Maria Mutola took a valuable chance to prepare at the magnificent City of Manchester Stadium that welcomed more than 20,000 spectators on Sunday.

Tony Allcock’s England bowling team gained a psychological advantage over the other rival home nations with a victory at Heaton Park, with Scotland second and Wales and Ireland in joint third.

There was a feast of hockey at Belle Vue where Ireland’s women beat Scotland, and England overcame India, while England’s men defeated Scotland but later lost to Ireland.

Spectators and competitors alike enjoyed the sunshine and praised the mountain bike course at Rivington Pike as victory in the men’s and women’s races was secured by Liam Kitleen and Sue Thomas respectively to complete a memorable weekend.

Thousands enjoyed the four events, which were a useful exercise in a series of tests for organisers of the Commonwealth Games.

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