Kelly Sotherton is on a mission to get Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson to emulate Usain Bolt by sprinkling stardust on the Commonwealth Games.
Britain’s golden girls had Birmingham 2022 firmly in their diaries until Covid-19 struck, obliterating the sporting calendar and creating a backlog of events for the next two summers.
The upshot for Asher-Smith and KJT is the defence of their world titles in Oregon has been put back a year to just days before England’s second city opens its doors to the Commonwealth.
Worse still, the European Championships start in Munich barely a week after the curtain falls on the Birmingham showpiece. Sotherton, three-time Olympic medalist turned boss of England’s Commonwealth track and field team,