Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson has poked fun at West Ham United by declaring that Team GB would win more medals at the World Athletics Championships than the Premier League club “have seen in their entire history”.
It comes amid a row over the use of West Ham’s London Stadium, which hosted the 2012 Olympics Games and 2017 World Athletics Championship, ahead of the 2029 event – which London wants to bid for.
But West Ham are reportedly refusing to make the London Stadium available for a three-week period in September, due to the football season, which has put London’s bid for the World Championships in jeopardy.
Hodgkinson, who would be the star of a home World Championships in 2029 if London won the bid, responded to a report on X/Twitter with a playful roasting of the east London club. “The GB team will bring back more medals to that stadium than West Ham have seen in their entire history,” she said.
The September dates of the 2029 World Championships will not be moved to accommodate the Premier League, with World Athletics stating that they want the meet to be staged at the finale of the outdoor athletics season. Rome, Munich and Nairobi are also said to be considering a bid.
A London bid for the event would have the backing of the mayor’s office and Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, said cities would need to be “accommodating” if they were to be awarded the World Championships.
“It’s really difficult for me because I have a view, but I have to be scrupulously neutral, because London is clearly not the only bid out there,” Coe said, as reported by the Guardian. “All I would say is that I would hope that there is a recognition that outside the Olympic Games and the World Cup, this is the third-largest sporting gathering in a four-year cycle. I do ask cities to try to accommodate us. There has to be a recognition that it’s a big global sport. This is not a gimme to anyone.”
Earlier this month, West Ham told the Daily Mail that it is their “contractual right” for the club’s games to take “priority” during the Premier League season.
“West Ham United remain in a constructive dialogue with London Stadium regarding the potential dates for the proposed bid and await further information,” a statement said. “Any decisions remain subject to the club’s overriding priority clause, a contractual right ensuring West Ham United games take priority during the football season.”
The London Stadium was built for the 2012 London Olympics, with West Ham granted a 99-year lease following the Games. The stadium was redeveloped to seat up to 66,000 fans, but the space for the athletics track around the pitch has remained. It continues to host athletics meets, such as the annual London Diamond League, usually held in July.
