February 4 - As the 2011 indoor athletics season gets under way, a selection of the UK's leading athletes took time out from their training today, to host a unique sprint masterclass at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, to celebrate the launch of Alfa Romeo's new Special Edition Alfa MiTo Sprint.

heptathlon and focus solely on one discipline, but I'm really enjoying it and have been training hard in South

Africa over the winter."

Sports Internet Writer of the YearFebruary 3 - Cape Town are set to withdraw from the race to become South

leaves Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth in the race.Cape Town, the second most populous city in South

Africa, would have presented a strong case following its successful hosting of nine matches during the

 Yesterday South Africa's Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula had urged the country to pick a candidate

for 2020 Olympic bidsDecember 2010: Rogge tells South Africa it is now in "top league" of organisersSeptember

2010: Cape Town wants chance to bid for 2020 OlympicsSeptember 2010: Durban put forward as South Africa

By Duncan MackayBritish Sports Internet Writer of the YearFebruary 2 - South Africa has been urged to

Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth have all expressed an interest in staging the Games and South

city for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics on July 6, remains the favourite to be chosen as South

storiesJanuary 2011: IOC announce timetable for 2020 Olympic bidsDecember 2010: Rogge tells South

Africa it is now in "top league" of organisersSeptember 2010: Cape Town wants chance to bid for 2020

OlympicsSeptember 2010: Durban put forward as South Africa candidate for 2020 OlympicsJuly 2010: Africa

place, beautiful venue, decent crowds - when the sun came out - and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius of South

Africa quite rightly making headlines because of his captivating duel with the USA's Jerome Singleton.Superb.However

clash.Throw 2010 London Marathon winner Josh Cassidy of Canada and world record holder Ernst van Dyk of South

Africa into the equation and you couldn't have asked for more.Well actually...maybe you could.Maybe

I came all the way from South Africa for this one event so I wasn't going to pull out but, I mean, come

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 31 - New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chief executive Steve Tew has warned that the All Blacks must not get complacent and think that will simply stroll to gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as more countries will start to invest heavily in the sport now that is back at the Olympics.

We've seen the strength of commitment from Australia, South Africa, England and the Pacific Islands."

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 29 - South African Oscar Pistorius stole the show on day eight of

defeat at the hands of American Jerome Singleton by storming past his great rival to claim victory for South

Africa in the men's 4x400 metres relay T53/54 final.

received the baton ahead of the Pistorius and appeared likely to claim a relatively easy victory over the South

blistering last 20 metres to somehow claw back the American and sneak past him on the line.The victory saw South

Africa claim gold in a championship record of 42.80 with the United States taking silver in 42.84 and

By Tom Degun in ChristchurchJanuary 27 - Britain's David Weir emphatically proved he is the best wheelchair racer on the planet as he claimed his third gold medal out of three at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in the men's 5,000 metre T54 race at the QE II Stadium here.

marathon T54 race on Sunday (January 30), the final day of competition.Australia's Kurt Fearnley and South

year-old from Bridgend in Wales with a throw of 41.56 metres.Davies finished behind Fanie Lombaard of South

Africa and Gino de Keersmaeker of Belgium but admitted he was delighted with the result."

By Tom DegunJanuary 26 - South African athlete Caster Semenya (pictured) claims she is unfazed by the

They just knew this is a useless athlete from South Africa."

storiesNovember 2010: IAAF to issue guidelines on gender to avoid repeat of Semenya debacleSeptember 2010: South

African Parliament calls Caster Semenya "mister" in official reportAugust 2010: South African officials

January 21 - Rugby's 2011 USA Sevens will kick off at a different time from usual to maximise the event's exposure from its first ever live national network TV coverage.

Africa and line up as second seeds in Pool B with opening matches against Wales, Kenya and South American

, while defending USA Sevens champions Samoa face a mouth-watering tie against hosts USA as well as South

Africa and Japan in Pool D.After the first two events in Dubai and South Africa, England lead the HSBC

Series with 44 points.New Zealand are second with 40, Samoa third with 36, Fiji fourth with 32 and South

Africa fifth with 24.

and junior team gold medalist, was born in Stavanger, Norway - where her father, originally from South

Africa, was working as an oil rig drilling supervisor.

By Mike RowbottomJanuary 19 - Charles van Commenee, head coach of UK Athletics, has defended the stringent  2012 Olympics qualification criteria for endurance events published today, and accepted that the athletics team in London next year will have "a few gaps".

"She knows that, and she has been training very well in South Africa.

By Tom Degun in Christchurch January 17 - Four nations aiming to compete at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships here face a major crisis ahead of the prestigious event, which begins on January 21, as they are still yet to leave home because of visa problems.

said it had lodged its application at Immigration New Zealand's receiving office in Pretoria, South

Africa, but the office there had no knowledge of the application.

January 17 - Global electronics and electrical engineering powerhouse Siemens has profited from the billions of pounds of investment into major winter sports, including the 2014 Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi.

facilities.For the five major international events held in 2010 – the Expo in Shanghai, the FIFA World Cup in South

Africa, the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the Asian Games in Guangzhou and the Winter Olympics in

By Duncan Mackay in LausanneBritish Sports Internet Writer of the YearJanuary 14 - The Ghanian Government have been blamed for the situation which has led to the country being suspended by the International Olympic Committtee (IOC) and put in jeopardy their participation at next year's Olympics in London, where the men's football team were being touted as one of the favourites.

situation and claimed that the Olympic ban overshadowed the achievement of last year's World Cup in South

Africa, where Ghana reached the quarter-finals."

"Now all that we achieved in South Africa and the rest is becoming a disgrace with what is happening

"Are we the only Government in Africa that we have to bully everybody?

January 9 - Top seeds England have drawn Wales, United States and the Cook Islands in Pool-A of the third round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington, New Zealand, next month.

After winning the cup title in Dubai and reaching the final in South Africa, England lead the series

with 44 points from New Zealand on 40, Samoa 36 and Fiji 32 with South Africa lying fifth on 24.Once

Commonwealth Games silver medallists Australia, Kenya and the ever dangerous Tongans, while Fiji will take on South

Africa - twice Plate winners this season - France and Canada in Pool-D."

from May 28-29.Related storiesDecember 2010: England fall short as New Zealand claim victory in South