Giles ready for the real thing now!

BIRMINGHAM’S Elliot Giles is ready for the real experience when he returns to Tokyo for the World Athletics Championships.

- By MATT WRIGHT

The 31-year-old middle distance runner previously travelled to the Japanese capital for the Olympics four years ago, but competed in an empty stadium due to pandemic restrictions.

Thankfully, the Japan National Stadium is set to be full to the rafters this time in what is Giles’ fourth World Championships, and the experienced middle-distancer runner is ready to embrace everything on offer.

He said: “It’s wildly different, even being in the airport greeting people and not having to quarantine or having the long queues in going through the process of getting through all the protocols.

“The roads now have people on them, so compared to last time it is a very different experience.

“It’s quite exciting to come back and experience the real Japan”