'We have no choice' - Shropshire games which inspired the Olympics are scaled back due to poor state of track
A Shropshire sporting contest that inspired the modern Olympic Games has had to be scaled back to just a road and race and indoor events due to the state of a town's athletics track.
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This July should have seen Much Wenlock host the 139th Wenlock Olympian Games.
The games began in the town in 1850 as the brainchild of Dr William Penny Brookes.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee, visited the games in Much Wenlock in 1890 before setting up the first modern Olympic Games six years later in Athens.
Each year, the Wenlock Olympian Games holds a host of events including fencing, archery, badminton as well as live arts, but the highlight of the games is professional track and field events that are held on the sports ground of William Brookes School.
But this year's track and field events have all had to be scrapped due to the deteriorating state of the running track, owned by Shropshire Council.
Last year the track lost its TrackMark certification from England Athletics due to its poor condition, meaning the track and field events, which are professional competitions, cannot take place.
