IN A bid to make athletics more inclusive, UK Athletics (UKA)’ Let’s Talk About Race programme has culminated in a sport-wide commitment to tackle issues of racial inequality endorsed jointly by UKA and the Home Country Athletics Federations (HCAFs).

The programme was launched to review all issues related to race within the sport following the murder of George Floyd. Whilst athletics in the UK is enjoyed by a diverse community, UKA CEO Joanna Coates appealed to the sport to let UKA know how it could be better at supporting ethnically diverse communities in the long term and not just in the immediate aftermath of this tragic event.

The programme launched with a series of roundtables, bringing together voices from across the athletics community to discuss race and was followed by a series of focus groups that identified priorities which have enabled UKA to finalise the actions to be taken forward as part of the 2021-2024 Diversity Action Plan – set to be published in January.

Olympian Donna Fraser, equality, diversity and engagement lead at UK Athletics, said: “The murder of George Floyd sparked positive and negative conversations about race around the world and although a heart-breaking experience, we took the time to reach out to the athletics community to understand the true feelings and experiences within our sport.

“The passion and commitment to make change from those who supported the programme really shone through and i thank them for their honesty. this is the start of a journey and i have no doubt that the athletics community will hold myself and the senior leaders at UKA and the HCAF’s accountable for the let’s talk about race deliverables.”