Billed as a rival to the Olympic Games, the Enhanced Games – set to take place in 2025 – is a sporting event with a difference: athletes will be allowed to dope. Ian Sample talks to chief sports writer Barney Ronay about where the idea came from and how it’s being sold as an anti-establishment underdog, and to Dr Peter Angell about what these usually banned substances are, and what they could do to athletes’ bodies This episode was first played on The Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast. Clips: Talk TV, News Nation, Inside with Brett Hawke, ESPN ..read more

As well as new women’s-only record, race delivered largest ever number of participants and new charity fundraising high The London Marathon’s organisers have hailed another “glorious day” on the streets of the UK capital after a series of records – including the women’s-only world record – were broken. More than 50,000 finishers were forecast to have crossed the line by late on Sunday, another record, while the race director, Hugh Brasher, predicted that the race would raise more money for charity than any single-day event in history ..read more

Yorkshireman’s training affected by cousin’s car crash and coma Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao wins men’s race in 2:04:01 As Emile Cairess entered the final 200 metres of the London Marathon, the wall of sound from spectators was suddenly interrupted by an excited bark from the PA. “And there’s our third placed finisher coming into view!” Which, as the quiet man of British athletics later admitted, came as rather a nice surprise. But it was all the 26-year-old deserved for a performance of soul and substance, particularly in the final two miles, where he weaved past tired legs to leap from ..read more

Lewis surges to shock 200-metre triumph at Diamond League Teen star defeats world champion in lead-up to 2024 Olympics Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis has made another stunning sprint breakthrough in the run-up to the Olympics by beating the world 100 metres champ and powering to a stunning 200m triumph at the season’s opening Diamond League meeting in China. On a night in Xiamen when Armand Duplantis was setting another world pole vault record of 6.24 metres, Australia’s own soaring star led the undercard with her brilliant half-lap victory over two American stars ..read more

Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record at the Diamond League in Xiamen, China, clearing 6.24m. Duplantis bettered his previous mark of 6.23m set at the Eugene Diamond League finale in September, clearing the bar with ease before leaping up off the sponge mat below and racing off in celebration at his first outdoor event of the year. It is the eighth time that Duplantis has broken the world record, and the 24-year-old was the only man to clear six metres at the Egret Stadium. Footage courtesy of BBC Sport ..read more

Field is fastest ever, says race director Brasher Men’s race features greatest distance runner Bekele There are so many history-makers and record breakers in Sunday’sLondon marathon that the race director, Hugh Brasher, reckons the women’s race will be even harder to win than the Olympics. Hyperbole? Perhaps, given that the Paris route is brutally hilly and will be staged in the raging heat of summer. But Brasher also has a point, given the extraordinary quality that will be on display ..read more

Australia’s fastest woman, who broke the 100m national record earlier this year, may not even race the event at the Paris Olympics She may be Australia’s fastest woman ever over 100m, but the blue-ribband event is not a priority for Torrie Lewis as she seeks to qualify for the Paris Olympics later this year. It may seem counterintuitive, but to the 19-year-old it makes perfect sense. Given the choice, Lewis, whose profile has sky-rocketed since breaking the national 100m women’s record in January, would run the 200m instead, an event she has always considered herself to be more suited to ..read more

All four athletes disqualified and forced to return prize money Special committee issues apology but steers clear of fix talk Organisers have revoked He Jie’s first place in the Beijing half marathon last weekend after an investigation confirmed that three other runners had slowed down to let him win the race. All four were disqualified and had to return their medals and prize money. Online users in China had shared the video from the final moments of Sunday’s race out of suspicion that it had been rigged. The footage showed three African runners letting He, China’s top long-distance runner ..read more

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Anti-doping agency now requires two experts to assess result Australian’s ban was lifted after analysis of second sample Athletes who record inconclusive initial doping test results for synthetic EPO may be saved from public shaming, following World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) reforms prompted by the Peter Bol saga. The Australian Olympian was provisionally suspended from competition in January 2023 after an out-of-competition test showed he had elevated levels of synthetic EPO, which can stimulate the formation of bed blood cells and aid recovery. Subsequent testing exonerated him ..read more