Manchester games track split four ways

The super-fast £6m track used for the athletics in the City of Manchester Stadium during the Commonwealth Games has found a new home at four sites around the country.

The Mondo track has been rolled up and allocated to the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, the Harvey Hadden leisure centre in Nottingham, the Thorns Park athletics stadium in Wakefield and the North East Pole Vault Academy.

Senior officials from Sport England hope that the continued legacy of the track will deflect some of the criticism aimed at them by athletes such as Jonathan Edwards and Paula Radcliffe, who were angry that the £110m lottery-funded stadium was being converted into a football ground for Manchester City and would never again be used for athletics.

Immediately after the closing ceremony at the Commonwealth Games, the Manchester track was removed and stored on pallets while work started to decide who would benefit in the first phase of allocation.

The four recipients of the track were identified through the governing body UK Athletics, to ensure it would benefit a combination of both elite and community-based athletes.

About 2,000 square metres of the total 7,000sqm Manchester track will be used on the infield during the world indoor championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham in March.

Installation will start today at Nottingham's Harvey Hadden centre, a regular venue for the English schools' championships, while the arena in Wakefield will have its indoor centre replaced.

The fourth recipient, the Gateshead-based North East Pole Vault Academy, will be using part of the track as a portable runway for their roadshows and demonstrations.