21st July 2009

C4 & MCCAIN SHOWCASE ATHLETICS

21 July 2009

Channel Four will get up close and personal with British athletics in the new McCain Track & Field Show which is due to air on Sunday 26th July at 8.30am.

The weekly programme will run for 12 weeks and will featureT4’s Rick Edwards, former 400m hurdles world record holder Sally Gunnell, Olympic badminton medallist Gail Emms and long standing 400m British record holder Iwan Thomas as presenters.

The McCain Track and Field Show will showcase athletics from the inside: filming athletes from grassroots to schools and clubs, up and coming stars, all the way through to Olympic athletes.  

The series includes interviews with the Olympic champion and World record holder Usain Bolt, who will run at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on Friday 25th July, the fastest man with no legs Oscar Pistorius, as well as spending time with British Olympians & Paralympians Marilyn Okoro, Steve Lewis, David Weir, Nathan Stephens and Jeanette Kwakye.

The crew also follow some of the country’s up and coming athletes who have the potential to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, including World Junior 1500m gold medallist Stephanie Twell, World Youth heptathlon gold medallist Katarina Thompson and London Mini Marathon wheelchair gold medallist Dan Lucker.

The magazine-style show will include hurdles and pole vault masterclasses with rising stars Steve Lewis and Perry Shakes-Drayton and fascinating experiments including Iwan Thomas attempting to hone a top relay team with no  previous athletics experience and Jason Gardener running 100 yards in 1930s-style kit and repeating the feat in modern day gear to see how the times compare.

The action packed series is designed to go behind the scenes of athletics in the UK to introduce Channel Four viewers to the sport and provide athletics fans with an previously unseen  view into the 2009 season from all aspects and levels of athletes.