21 September 2010

Benke Blomkvist and Henk Kraaijenhof have been added to the impressive roll call of speakers for the 2010 European Sprints and Hurdles Conference, hosted by UKA, England Athletics and the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund at the Radisson Edwardian Heathrow Hotel in London on 13/14 November.

Blomkvist, former long term coach to women’s 60mH World record holder Susanna Kallur, coached Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland representatives William Sharman, Dai Greene and Rhys Williams during a short period based in Wales as UKA Sprint and Hurdles coach.

Kraaijenhof, a coach for 35 years to high profile athletes including Olympic, World and Commonwealth medallist Merlene Ottey, and Olympic and World silver medallist Sandra Farmer-Patrick, has an integrated and well founded vision on sports and human performance and has extended his area of expertise beyond track and field.

Online registration is now open for the inaugural event which forms part of European Athletics Coaching Summit Series, continuing the exceptional coach development opportunities on offer in the UK.

Already confirmed speakers include internationally renowned sport scientist Dr Ralph Mann, Director of USA Track & Field’s Elite Athlete Sprint and Hurdle Programme, and UK-based coaches Malcolm Arnold and Dan Pfaff.

Thanks to the support of the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund, the first 200 coaches with a valid UKA Licence can attend at the heavily discounted rate of £65 (standard rate £120). However, coaches are encouraged to book up early to avoid disappointment as almost half of these tickets have been already been sold.

Like other conferences in the European Athletics Coaching Summit Series, European Athletics Member Federations can use one or both of their alloted two coach development scholarships to cover the costs of sending coaches to attend the event. For more information about the scholarships, visit the European Athletics website. 

For more information on the European Sprints and Hurdles Conference – including booking details, accommodation and additional speaker biographies – go to the official event website at: www.uka.org.uk/coaching/conferences

The launch release can be viewed in the news archive on the UKA website (dated 3 September).

Also this autumn, the European Walks Conference, staged by the UKA National Race Walking Centre at Carnegie Leeds Metropolitan University, takes place in Leeds on 6-7 November, the second in the three-event 2010 European Athletics Coaching Summit Series.