Sports agency hunts sponsor for athletics event in Dome

The Millennium Dome is to host an International athletics event organised by Nova, the sports agency run by Olympic medalist Brendan Foster.

The agency is seeking a &£500,000 sponsor to back the meeting.

It will be an invitation event and is scheduled to be screened live on BBC TV on March 11 next year.

Organisers hope to attract world-class athletes, such as Moroccan middle-distance runner Noureddine Morceli and new Algerian mile world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj.

There will be a series of men’s and women’s millennium mile races on a specially constructed track, which will run around the inside of the Dome. There will also be a number of indoor field events, such as high jump and pole vault.

Nova is the sports agency set up in 1988 by Olympic 5,000m bronze medal winner Foster.

Nova client services director David Hart says: “This will be a unique event to celebrate the millennium. It will be athletics’ way of marking the year. We will have a top-class field to reflect the stature of the occasion.”

Last October, the BBC signed an exclusive UK five-year contract with the sport’s governing body, UK Athletics, worth &£17.5m.