Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be ready to go when the New York Jets begin OTA practices on May 20.

The four-time MVP, eight months removed from surgery to repair a torn left Achilles, will have "no restrictions," according to coach Robert Saleh.

"Once phase three hits, we're not anticipating any restrictions from what we can and can't do with him," Saleh said Friday at the start of a two-day rookie minicamp.

Phase three, which lasts four weeks and covers 10 practices, is when teams are allowed to do noncontact, 11-on-11 work. That Rodgers will participate shouldn't come as a surprise; he was practicing on a limited basis over the final month of last season. Still, it's noteworthy, considering the severity of his injury.

"The guy can still sling it," Saleh said. "Obviously, he's still working through his rehab, but there are no issues on the trajectory on which he's going."

Even with Rodgers' return, the Jets won't be at full strength at quarterback until training camp in late July. Former Florida State star Jordan Travis, drafted last weekend in the fifth round, won't participate in the offseason, but he should be cleared for training camp, Saleh said.

The Jets, who traded 2021 No. 2 pick Zach Wilson to the Denver Broncos before the draft, selected Travis as a developmental prospect who can learn behind Rodgers and new backup Tyrod Taylor.

Travis suffered a gruesome, season-ending ankle injury on Nov. 18 against North Alabama, requiring surgery. Travis, who said getting drafted was a "freaking dream come true," indicated last weekend that he would confer with the Jets' trainers before setting a timetable for return. On Friday, he rode a stationary bike during part of the practice.

Saleh called Travis a "ball of clay" in terms of his potential, adding, "He's a tremendously talented young man and extremely gifted, especially athletically. He's got a lot of work to do for sure, especially with tying his lower half to his arm and all that good stuff, but he's a gifted athlete."

In five seasons at Florida State, Travis passed for 8,643 yards and 65 touchdowns, and he finished his career with 17 straight wins.

Rodgers was injured on the fourth snap of the season, essentially derailing the Jets' Super Bowl dream. They wound up starting three other quarterbacks -- Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian -- and finished 7-10.

The future Hall of Famer vowed to make an unprecedented comeback from the Achilles tear, but he aborted the comeback with three games to go because the Jets had fallen out of contention. He did return to practice, only 2 months after surgery.

"It's been a year since he's been hurt," linebacker C.J. Mosley said, "so now the narrative is, 'Let's keep Aaron healthy,' instead of what the first narrative was last year."

MILWAUKEE -- Despite trying to push himself to be available to the Bucks for the playoffs, Giannis Antetokounmpo acknowledged he was "not close" to returning from his strained left calf, adding he only could run at about 30-40%.

"I tried my best to come back to help my teammates," Antetokounmpo said Friday, a day after the Bucks dropped their first-round series to the Indiana Pacers. "It's kind of hard to see them being out there and not being able to help them, but I just couldn't.

"I did all the tests I had to do, these like protocols you have to follow and have to check the boxes. I wasn't even close at checking the boxes."

Antetokounmpo last played April 9. He ended up missing three weeks with his left calf strain, sitting out the final three regular-season games and the Bucks' six-game postseason.

This was the second consecutive postseason when Antetokounmpo has missed games with an injury, with a back issue having sidelined him for multiple games of the 2023 playoffs. It left Antetokounmpo to consider whether he needs to change his approach heading into next season.

"I don't know. Maybe I do follow a different pattern," Antetokounmpo said. "Maybe try different things. I don't like the word 'rest.' Like, if I can play, I will play. If I cannot play, I can't play.

"I'm for sure going to sit down and think about it, of how my summer is going to look like and how next year is going to look like."

One potential factor in Antetokounmpo's summer schedule is the Paris Olympics. Antetokounmpo has previously expressed interest in playing in the Olympics but has not confirmed that he will. Greece also still has to earn a spot in the Games in a July qualification tournament.

Antetokounmpo said he would take about two to three more weeks to recover before deciding his next steps.

After sustaining the injury against the Boston Celtics on April 9, Antetokounmpo initially thought he would be able to return to the game that night. After some initial tests in the locker room that afternoon, he got off the trainers table but felt pain when he took his first step. Antetokounmpo wore a walking boot for the first week after the injury.

Before Game 4, he began jogging for the first time since the injury.

"Usually I heal pretty fast," Antetokounmpo said. "Whatever happens to me, whatever they say [for a time frame], it's half that. I think this time it might not be the case."

Antetokounmpo is coming off one of his best seasons. He played 73 games in the regular season, his most since 2017-18, and averaged 30.4 points on 61.1% shooting, the first player in NBA history to score 30 points per game on 60% shooting.

Still, the Bucks fell in the first round for the second consecutive season. Despite the early exit, Antetokounmpo said he felt confident going forward about the Bucks' ability to contend.

Especially considering how little time the Bucks' best players spent on the floor together once Doc Rivers took over as coach. After Rivers' first game Jan. 29, Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard played eight total games together.

"Obviously, it doesn't feel good. The wound, you know, it's fresh. It's open. You just lost in the first round," Antetokounmpo said. "But I'm not a guy who makes excuses. Right now, I do believe that when me, Khris and Dame and Brook [Lopez] was on the floor and we're healthy, we were one of the best offenses in the NBA. And you can go and check that."

To bounce back from a disappointing exit, Antetokounmpo said he was looking forward to having a full offseason. It would give him more time to learn from and work with Rivers as coach and to build chemistry with Lillard, whom he planned to visit in Oregon over the summer.

"It's different when you have the whole summer and training camp, a year, to prepare for the end than to just have three months," Antetokounmpo said. "It was a hard season. From many aspects, if you look at the changes: The coaches. The players changes. New assistants. New people, new staff. How you play ... it was something draining. But this is why we do what we do; we don't expect it to be perfect. Just got to keep moving forward and try to do your job and hope you can do it to the best of your ability."

The LA Clippers are planning to pursue a contract extension with coach Tyronn Lue that'll allow him to avoid entering the final year of his deal in 2025-2026, sources told ESPN on Friday.

Lue is expected to be a target in the Los Angeles Lakers' coaching search and perhaps other looming vacancies.

The Clippers are trailing the Dallas Mavericks 3-2 in the Western Conference first-round playoff series with Game 6 set for Friday (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET), but the outcome of this postseason has no bearing on the Clippers' desire to keep Lue as the franchise's long-term coach, sources said. LA was 51-31 and the fourth seed in the Western Conference this season.

The Clippers have been without All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard for most of the series with right knee inflammation, but the organization's goal remains to re-sign free agents Paul George and James Harden alongside Leonard, sources said.

The Lakers offered Lue their head-coaching job in 2019, but he turned it down when the sides couldn't agree on terms, sources said. After a year on Doc Rivers' Clippers staff that season, Lue ascended to the head job and led the Clippers to the franchise's first Western Conference finals berth in 2020-2021.

The Clippers -- who've suffered through numerous injuries to star players in Lue's tenure -- have advanced to the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. The team has the NBA's sixth-best record since 2020-2021 under Lue at 184-134, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Lue has spent much of his Clippers tenure adapting lineups and schemes to work around injuries to his stars. This season, Lue had to adjust a week into the regular season when the Clippers traded for Harden just three games into the season.

After the trade, the Clippers lose six straight games -- including five with Harden in the lineup. But after Russell Westbrook moved to coming off the bench, Lue and the Clippers turned their season around. At one point, they went on a 26-5 tear to stand atop the Western Conference standings on Feb. 6.

Lue earned consecutive Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for December and January.

Lue had to adapt again in April when Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season with inflammation in his right knee. Leonard missed Game 1 before returning for Games 2 and 3. But Leonard's surgically repaired knee didn't respond the way he had hoped, and the team has kept its star out since.

Lue, who won an NBA championship as Cleveland's coach in 2016, is 312-217 (.590) overall in the regular season and 52-33 (.612) in the playoffs.

ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers fired coach Darvin Ham on Friday after two seasons, and the team now will open a job search in hopes of finding the right person to maximize what figures to be the final chapter of LeBron James' storied career while returning to championship contention.

Ham, who had two years remaining on his contract, went 90-74 (.549) during the regular season and 9-12 (.429) in the postseason -- which does not include his two play-in tournament wins -- since being hired to replace Frank Vogel in 2022. He also guided the Lakers to the inaugural in-season tournament title in Las Vegas in December.

The decision came just days after the Lakers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets for the second straight season, this time in five games in the first round after being swept by Denver in the conference finals a year ago.

"We greatly appreciate Darvin Ham's efforts on behalf of the Lakers and recognize the many accomplishments achieved over the past two seasons including last year's remarkable run to the Western Conference finals," Rob Pelinka, Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager, said in a statement. "We all want to thank Darvin for this dedication and positivity. While this was a difficult decision to make, it is the best course of action following a full review of the season. The organization will remain unwavering in its commitment to deliver championship-caliber basketball to Lakers fans around the world."

Later Friday, after firing Ham, the Lakers dismissed the entire coaching staff, sources told ESPN. Included in the group was Phil Handy, who was an assistant coach under both Ham and Frank Vogel in L.A. and also was an assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron James' second stint with the franchise.

Despite James (71 games) and Anthony Davis (76) playing their most combined games since becoming teammates in L.A. in 2018, the Lakers only earned the No. 7 seed in a crowded Western Conference field, setting up the showdown with the No. 2-seeded Nuggets.

The Lakers failed to protect a double-digit lead in all four of their losses in the series, including a 20-point second-half lead in Game 2.

"It's been a hell of a two years ... I'll tell you that," Ham said Monday after L.A. was eliminated. "Sitting in this seat, it's been a hell of a two years. A lot of good things that got done, but ultimately, you want to win that ultimate prize."

Ham inherited a Lakers team coming off one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of the franchise, when it went 33-49 in 2021-22 and failed to qualify for the postseason after it traded several role players who were vital to L.A.'s 2020 title for Russell Westbrook.

L.A. started off 2-10 in Ham's first season, and the roster was completely overhauled in a series of moves leading up to the trade deadline. The team parted ways with Westbrook and retooled with D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura to complement holdovers James, Davis and Austin Reaves.

That team beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in tournament to earn the No. 7 seed and went on to upset the No. 2-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and No. 6-seeded Golden State Warriors before falling to the top-seeded Nuggets. Denver went on to win its first championship in franchise history.

This season, the Lakers had an underwhelming start once again by going 3-5, then stumbled through a 4-11 stretch following the in-season tournament title, dropping them to No. 13 in the West in mid-January. L.A. rallied to finish the season 23-10 -- the fifth-best record in the league from Feb. 1 through mid-April -- and beat the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament to earn the No. 7 seed again.

Last year, the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the playoffs and outscored them by 24 points in their four wins; this time around, it took Denver five games, and the combined margin of victory was 22 points in the four wins.

The first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs has been nothing short of exciting, giving us everything from sweeps to back-and-forth battles on both sides of the bracket.

In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves have already secured spots in the second round, with the Nuggets and Timberwolves starting their series on Saturday in Denver.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics are joined in the second round by the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, with the Knicks and Pacers renewing their rivalry on Tuesday in New York.

That leaves two series -- one in each conference -- yet to be decided. Both return to action on Friday in Game 6 clashes that could potentially round out the second-round field.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a 3-2 lead over the Orlando Magic, and will look to advance in the East to face despite no road team having won yet in the series. In the West, the Dallas Mavericks host the LA Clippers with a 3-2 advantage after an impressive Game 5 win in Los Angeles.

Our NBA insiders break down the biggest storylines to watch going into these crucial Game 6 matchups.

MORE: Everything to know about the playoffs | Offseason guides for every team

Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic (CLE leads series 3-2)

Can the Cavaliers generate enough offense on the road?

Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Cleveland has built its advantage behind the league's seventh-ranked defense, but to close out this series in Orlando, it has to score more. The Cavs finally broke the 100-point mark in Game 5, when Darius Garland raced out to 17 first-quarter points and Donovan Mitchell finished with 28. Max Strus, who had struggled shooting, knocked down four 3-pointers, and Marcus Morris Sr. added 12 points off the bench.

Yes, that game was sealed by an Evan Mobley block -- his defensive presence is even more important with Jarrett Allen's status up in the air -- but in the two games the Cavs dropped in Orlando's Kia Center, they had no answer for scoring runs by the Magic, who had the sixth-best home record in the league during the regular season.

In Game 4, Mitchell went scoreless in the second half, while the Cavs surrendered a 31-5 run in the third quarter and shot just 4-of-17 from 3.

-- Kendra Andrews

LA Clippers at Dallas Mavericks (DAL leads the series 3-2)

Will history repeat itself or can the Mavericks lock in?

Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Luka Doncic didn't want to hear it, interrupting a reporter's question as soon as the subject of the Mavericks' last playoff series against the Clippers was broached.

These teams were in the same position in the 2021 playoffs, when the Mavs took a 3-2 lead in a first-round series and headed home for Game 6. LA won the next two games, eliminating Dallas for the second consecutive season.

"Present. Present. Not past," Doncic insisted after his 35-point, 10-assist performance in the Mavs' Game 5 blowout win.

Clippers star Paul George, not surprisingly, was much more willing to discuss the recent history between the two teams. He actually made a point to bring it up after what could be the Clippers' final home game at Crypto.com Arena unless their prior Game 6 road success repeats itself.

"We've been here before -- going to Dallas, being down 3-2," George said. "It's got to be a win, and the only mentality we have is to try to go get a win in Dallas."

In that instance three years ago, Kawhi Leonard carried the Clippers to a Game 6 victory. He matched his playoff career high with 45 points and played smothering defense on Doncic down the stretch in that game.

But the Clippers can't count on that happening again. Leonard hasn't been available since Game 3 because of persistent inflammation in his right knee, and he isn't expected to return during this series.

Before this series started, Doncic pointed out another major difference from the other times the Mavs and Clippers met in the playoffs.

"We have Kai," Doncic said, referring to Kyrie Irving, his championship experienced co-star.

"We'll get some rest after this one," Irving said. "Emotions are high, but we just got to be ready for whatever's going to be thrown at us."

-- Tim MacMahon

AS HALFTIME APPROACHED in Wednesday's Game 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Moritz Wagner was fed up with the boos.

They began in earnest within the first minute of the second quarter when the Orlando Magic center stepped up to the line after drawing a foul off Cavs counterpart Tristan Thompson. The jeers turned to cheers when Wagner missed the first of his two shots.

The boos ramped up again with 8:11 left in the quarter as Wagner exchanged words with Thompson after another foul that sent him to the line. The crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse loudly approved when Wagner again clanked his first shot.

With 5:53 left before the half, Wagner swished in a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. As he jogged back, the 6-11 big man formed his hand into three fingers, brought them to his lips and blew a kiss to the crowd.

It's been a tenuous relationship between Wagner and the Cavs home crowd since the beginning of the series. In Game 1, Wagner reached for a loose ball with his right hand while shoving Cavs forward Evan Mobley out of bounds with his left. As he walked away and bumped into Cavs guard Darius Garland, Wagner turned toward his teammates on the bench and clapped several times. Isaac Okoro then purposely bumped into Wagner, which drew a technical foul on the Cavs forward and the ire of the crowd.

On the Magic's next offensive possession, Wagner secured an offensive rebound off Joe Ingles' missed shot. He finished the play with a put-in and turned to his bench again.

"With a crazy face, he's got spit coming down his chin, and just yelled 'I'm built for this.' I love it," Orlando guard Jalen Suggs told ESPN. "As soon as he came over I told him 'I like you like this.'

"To me, that's free motivation, free gas. When you see a teammate doing something like that, you have no choice but to stand on that yourself."

No road team has won a game in this feisty first-round series. Following the 104-103 loss in Game 5, the Magic are down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and now face a must-win Game 6 on Friday in Orlando (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

To force a Game 7 back in Cleveland, the Magic need to rely on what helped them clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2020: tough defense, rebounding, a core of young players -- and a bit of on-court chirping.

"It's obvious I'm embracing it. It's clear that I'm enjoying it as well," Wagner told ESPN. "But I always have a problem with myself -- I don't want to get caught up in it too much.

"If the stuff around I can use as a productive instrument, I will do that for sure. But it's very important for me to always be aware of my surroundings and not get caught up in that."

IN MULTIPLE PRACTICES this season, the Magic have cut live drills short because they got too physical. The trash talk between them has been relentless. They go through five-on-five sessions as if they were in a real game.

"That's all we've known growing up -- talking trash, and physicality, but everyone embraces it in this series," Suggs said. "The very first game when we felt it and it went that way, we were like perfect. That's exactly what we wanted."

However, the Magic understand those emotions can't get in the way of their current objective -- winning a playoff series for the first time since reaching the Eastern Conference finals in 2010.

"It's what makes this group special. But it's also what makes each individual who they are," Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley told ESPN. "You have to allow these young men to be who they are at any given moment."

Mosley credited the 36-year-old Ingles, now in his ninth season in the NBA, with instilling some chippiness into the team's practices early in the season and how to best respond to it.

"He was trying to push buttons and they needed that. They need to know when you go against an opponent they are going to do the same thing," Mosley said. "You have to be prepared for it."

Against Cleveland, the Magic have relied on the type of physical play that's produced a defense ranked second in efficiency this postseason, allowing 93.8 points per game.

Despite holding the Cavs to under 100 points in the first four games of the series, it's been a learning curve for the second youngest team in the playoffs (behind the West's No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder). Three players in the Magic's starting lineup -- Suggs, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner -- are all 22 years or younger and playing in their first postseason series.

"When anything is a first, you want to take everything in," Suggs said of the losses in Games 1 and 2. "I caught myself a couple times just looking around the arena, really paying attention to what's going on the screen and all the sounds and noises and the fans."

In Games 3 and 4 in Orlando, the Magic nabbed double-digit wins in part due to their young stars' improved play and elite rebounding. During the regular season, the Magic ranked seventh in offensive rebounding percentage. In those wins, the Magic outscored the Cavaliers by 23 second-chance points.

It also helped that Banchero, the top pick of the 2022 draft, found his rhythm after committing 15 turnovers in Games 1 and 2. In the Game 3 win, he scored 31 points and grabbed 14 boards to become the youngest player with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and no turnovers in a playoff game in NBA history.

Franz Wagner followed with a similar performance in Game 4 -- his 34 points and 13 rebounds made him and Banchero the first pair of teammates to each have a turnover-free 30-point, 10-rebound game in the same series.

With the series back in Orlando, Mosley wants his team to be aware of how to balance an elimination game with their established way of playing.

"It's important to toe the line, but don't cross it. You want to do what's right for the team," Mosley said. "You are getting hyped, you're getting aggressive, doing those things to get everybody into it, I love that. But you've got to know what your point of stopping is."

SUGGS LAMENTED HE missed out on a "silence the crowd moment" when Franz Wagner's layup was blocked in the final seconds of Friday's one-point loss in Cleveland. But the Magic know they've been a far better home team this season than on the road.

With a 26-12 record at Kia Center, their 12.4 point differential between home and road is the second-largest in the NBA this season, trailing only the Utah Jazz.

"We have a higher sense of urgency playing at home," Suggs told reporters Thursday.

The Magic will need to continue limiting All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who only averaged 15.5 points per game in the Cavs' previous two losses in Orlando. And the Magic must control the boards, with Cleveland grabbing just seven offensive rebounds in the two games. Suggs' defense has been particularly effective as the Cavs have shot 7-for-38 (18%) when he is the primary defender.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, that is the lowest field goal percentage any defender has allowed in the postseason. Specifically, Suggs has forced Mitchell into more turnovers (five) than made field goals (4-for-22 in the series) when defending him.

"It's going to be a physical game. We expect that, but it's one of those things where mentally you got to be prepared from the start and there's no smoothing your way into this one," Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters Thursday.

Cleveland may be without center Jarrett Allen due to a rib injury that kept him out of the Game 5 win. Being without Allen and his double-double output this series (17.0 points and 13.8 rebounds) would force the Cavs to rely on 3-point shooting from Mitchell and Garland. The team is second-worst in the playoffs with 28% shooting from beyond the arc.

However the Cavs approach a potential series-clinching game, the Magic know they'll be able to adjust.

"Just because you're at home does not mean you can play the exact same way you did then," Mobley said. "You have to change a little bit of that energy."

The Pittsburgh Pirates activated catcher Yasmani Grandal from the 10-day injured list Friday.

Grandal, 35, had been playing with Triple-A Indianapolis as he attempted to work his way back from left foot plantar fasciitis. He batted .257 with a homer and 11 RBIs in nine games with the club.

Signed to a one-year contract with Pittsburgh on Feb. 14, Grandal batted .234 with eight homers and 33 RBIs in 118 games for the Chicago White Sox in 2023.

Grandal is a career .237 hitter with 185 homers and 565 RBIs in 1,235 games with the San Diego Padres (2012-14), Los Angeles Dodgers (2015-18), Milwaukee Brewers (2019) and White Sox (2020-23).

In a corresponding move, the Pirates optioned catcher Henry Davis to Indianapolis.

Davis, 24, is batting .162 with four RBIs in 23 games with the Pirates this season.

CHICAGO -- Cubs ace Justin Steele is just about ready to return to Chicago's rotation after being sidelined since the season opener because of a strained left hamstring.

Steele is on track to start Monday against San Diego, assuming he gets through one more bullpen session with no issues, manager Craig Counsell said Friday. The left-hander was hurt trying to field a bunt at Texas in his Opening Day start.

"We've missed him for a month, and it'll be good to get him going," Counsell said.

Steele threw 63 pitches Wednesday for Triple-A Iowa. He allowed three runs and six hits in 3 innings.

"I feel I'm ready to go," he said.

The Cubs are counting on more big things from Steele coming off his first All-Star season. The left-hander was 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA in 30 starts and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

Steele was off to a good start against the defending World Series champion Rangers. He had six strikeouts before he lunged and fell awkwardly trying to field Leody Taveras' sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning.

"I was super anxious about Opening Day, just everything around it, first game of the year, first Opening Day for me and then obviously got hurt," Steele said. "It was nice to get that one under my belt. Now, it's like I've got to do it again. I'm excited about it. I'm more excited just being back up with the guys."

Kyle Hendricks (lower back strain) will start Tuesday for Triple-A Iowa, Counsell said. The veteran right-hander threw five solid innings for Double-A Tennessee on Thursday.

The Cubs were second in the NL Central at 19-13 heading into their weekend series against the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

Clara Evans, Jake Smith and Innes FitzGerald are among the entries for Sundays big race in South Wales

Jake Smith, Dewi Griffiths and Kadar Omar will head the mens fields at the Cardiff 5km Race For Victory on Sunday May 5, whereas Clara Evans, Jenny Nesbitt and Innes FitzGerald top the womens start lists, writes Alex Donald.

The ever popular community event held in the leafy Whitchurch suburb of the Welsh capital incorporates the 2024 Welsh 5km Championships and will host teams from the Midlands, North, South and South West of England, along with a team from North Wales and one representing the UK Armed Forces.

Smith (13:59) dipped under 14 minutes with victory here in 2022 and has competed three times so far in 2024 with his best performance a 29:25 clocking at the 10km Valencia Ibercaja in January.

Griffiths (13:43) and Omar (14:02) faced off a week ago with Omar finishing 14 seconds ahead over 10km in Newport. The former also completed a 2:12 marathon at Seville in February.

Richard Allen (13:51) is a former world duathlon champion and a former record-holder at the popular Podium 5km in Barrowford. More recently the Leeds man won the 2023 Trafford 10km.

Jonathan Hopkins (13:54) returns as a previous winner here, claiming the Welsh title on that occasion in 2018. The Swansea man has dipped under 14 minutes on several occasions in the past and most recently in 2021 at Barrowford.

A further challenge is expected from track man James Heneghan (14:35) and the 2023 Nos Galan 5km winner Ben Reynolds (14:05).

Welsh marathon record-holder Clara Evans (15:49) is the defending champion here and is in great shape, recently proven by a 70:11 clocking on a windy day at the Berlin Half Marathon and with a 31:53 PB in third place at the Trafford 10km.

Evans is joined by training partner and clubmate 2019 UK Inter-Counties cross-country champion Jenny Nesbitt (15:41) who set her PB at the recent Podium 5km Festival in Leicester.

Further Welsh interest sits with Emily Kearney-Haggard, who finished second at the Mid-Cheshire 5km last weekend in a new best of 15:44 and 2023 Cardiff 10km champion Alaw Evans (16:33).

European under-20 cross-country champion Innes FitzGerald overcame Nesbitt at the Cardiff Met Open Meeting over 3000m in January. The Exeter Harrier will make a 5km road race debut in Cardiff but has a parkrun best of 16:02 from January.

Molli Lyons (16:47) is another promising young athlete in action, finishing 15th here last year but since making her Great Britain & Northern Ireland team debut at the European Cross Country Championships in Brussels.

Italian international Ossama Meslek leads the attack on the four-minute barrier at the Bannister Miles on Monday with world bests guaranteed in steeplechase mile races

Fans of the mile will be able to feast upon more than four hours of races on Monday afternoon at Iffley Road in Oxford with runners in the final event at 6pm hoping to emulate Roger Bannister by breaking the four-minute barrier exactly 70 years after his famous feat.

Ossama Meslek, the British-based Italian international who runs for Leeds City AC, is among the favourites courtesy of his one mile best of 3:55.39, whereas the 27-year-old has also run 3:33.92 for 1500m.

Rivals include James Young, a 3:55.20 man from Morpeth Harriers, plus 3:57.00 runner Tom Dodd of Birchfield, the 3:58.89 athlete Tiarnan Crorken of Preston Harriers and 3:58.01 Irishman Shane Bracken.

With a large crowd expected, including miling greats such as Hicham El Guerrouj, Noureddine Morceli, Filbert Bayi, Eamonn Coghlan and Steve Cram, will they be able to crack four minutes? Much will depend on the weather, which is expected to be overcast with the chance of occasional showers and light winds, very much as it was 70 years earlier.

This month also marks the 70^th anniversary of the first sub-five-minute mile by Diane Leather and the elite womens race sets off just before 6pm in Oxford on Monday with ambitions to run considerably faster courtesy of Iffley Roads synthetic surface, modern track spikes and the impressive evolution of womens athletics in the last 30 years.

Khai Mhlanga of Herts Phoenix has a 1500m best of 4:12.84 from last year, which translates to around 4:30 for the mile. She is up against Beth Morley, a 4:14.08 metric miler last year who more recently anchored the GB team to mixed relay gold at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade.

Also in the field is the experienced Latvian runner Liga Velvere, who has run a 4:54.0 mile on the roads in the past, plus Olivia Forrest, the 15-year-old multiple national title winner in recent months from Brentwood Beagles.

There are sure to be records or world bests to be more accurate on the day due to the steeplechase mile making its debut.

This unique event will see Will Battershill of Bristol & West as the man to beat in the mens race with the womens race seeing Alice Murray-Gourlay of Taunton, Lucy Jones of Herne Hill and Victoria Weir of Birchfield battling it out.

One of the top athletes at the meeting generally, Battershill is the reigning British 3000m steeplechase champion with a 3000m chase PB of 8:22.64 but also a mile best of 3:58.49.

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He does have experience of this kind of event, too, as he won the English Schools 1500m steeplechase title 10 years ago in 4:18.38 followed by the Schools International crown as well.

It promises to be a day of rich variety with masters in action in the early races from 1.40am onwards (there is also a community mile from 9am in the centre of Oxford). The golden oldies in action include multiple age-group record-breaker Clare Elms and former junior star Simon Mugglestone.

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Now aged 55, Mugglestone ran a 3:58.9 mile (coincidentally in Oxford) and 13:28.29 for 5000m in addition to winning European junior 5000m gold in 1987 but is back racing again after a lengthy break.

The programme also includes races for para athletes, whereas the mens one mile B race sees the eclectic mix of Quinn Miell-Ingram the top Brit in the World Cross under-20 race this year together with UK under-15 record-breaker Evan Grime and Irish M55 masters sensation Shane Healy.

Start lists and results here