Jonnie Peacock on the importance of inclusive athletics opportunities

The Commonwealth Games are one of the most inclusive major sporting events. As the Games are in full flow, we caught up with former Paralympic champion and TNT presenter at the Games, Jonnie Peacock on his highlights so far, the integrated nature of the Games and how important such opportunities are for para sport.

Jonnie Peacock’s highlights from the Games

Now on day five of the athletics action, there have been plenty of standout moments across the track and field action. Jonnie, excited about the action, explained which moments have stood out to him personally,

“For me, there have been so many highlights from the Games so far. Being a 100m sprinter, I think Emmanuel Eseme running 9.8 in a Commonwealth final was absolutely incredible in the rain. Seeing Amy Hunt claiming silver with a sub-11 run was absolutely incredible too and Sophie Hahn for me that’s huge for her confidence. She’s had a couple of years where she’s been struggling a little bit and I think the belief that she’ll take from that will be absolutely incredible.”

Commonwealth Games providing integrated competition opportunities

With an integrated athletics and para-athletics programme in Glasgow, this event provides a unique experience for para athletes on the world stage. Jonnie explained the strengths of this event for para athletics and also the areas where there is still room for improvements, such as showing seasons best performances and having full heats in the para events.

“I love the fact that the Commonwealth Games is a fully integrated event. I think that they are definitely one of the best events in the world in terms of their integration with para sports.

"For me, there is still a little bit of room where they can improve upon, the fact that we can’t see any seasons bests, and the fact that we aren’t really seeing full heats, I would like to see that going forward if we can actually see para sport on a fully equal level playing field.

"So, I think it’s absolutely incredible but I still think that I want to see them keep pushing it and keep going in the right direction until it’s absolutely perfect.”

From the world stage to grassroots sport

Inclusive sport opportunities are equally as important at grassroots level as on the world stage. Speaking of the importance of this at all levels, Jonnie said,

“Inclusivity is absolutely huge, it’s so important, not just on the world stage here but also at grassroots level. I think that is something that we’re starting to see a lot more of, I go to local competitions now and I see wheelchair races in opens which is fantastic. I think it’s just starting to become more of a normality in athletics, which is amazing to see and hopefully it can just keep getting better.”

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