BRITISH ATHLETICS’ SELECTION POLICY ROW ESCALATES AFTER ACCUSATION OF ROBBING OLYMPIC DREAMS
The outcry over the “disgusting” Olympic selection policy of UK Athletics has escalated after a leading young athlete accused the governing body of robbing her of a place in Paris and driving people away from the sport.
Anna Purchase, who has reached the World and European hammer final in the past year and is “Paris qualified” through her world ranking, has been overlooked because she missed, by just 57cm, a separate standard imposed by UK Athletics to prioritise likely medallists and top-eight finishers.
There are 32 places in the women’s hammer competition but Team GB will go unrepresented and 24-year-old Purchase, who is ranked in the world’s top 16, will instead see her place go to a lesser rival from another country.
A further seven athletes were also not included in a 64-person team – the smallest British Olympic athletics squad for 20 years – despite being listed as “qualified” by World Athletics after narrowly missing controversial standards required by UKA.
Purchase, who fears a loss of funding and future bias by speaking out, believes that she would be doing her sport and fellow athletes a disservice by not using her voice to push for change. She joins a quartet of outraged British athletes who spoke this week to Telegraph Sport against a selection policy that will leave Team GB without anyone in the women’s hammer, women’s shot, women’s discus, women’s 5000m, men’s 3,000 metre steeplechase and men’s hammer. This is despite having athletes in all of these events who are listed on the World Athletics Road to Paris website as “qualified by world rankings”.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova replied to a message about Telegraph Sport’s story on Thursday with the words, “What the heck???”
Posting on Instagram, Purchase confirmed that her Olympic “invitation” would be “declined by British Athletics”, despite her throwing a distance this season that would have reached the past three Olympic finals.
“British athletics have not only robbed me of another opportunity to compete, they have robbed me of a dream of being an Olympian,” said Purchase.
“I’m proud to be British. I’m proud to be the British champion. I’m proud of our culture of competition, endeavour and inclusion. Where is this Pride of Britain? I can’t comprehend how this decision and decisions like this align with our cultural values. Should we not be proud to have as many athletes as possible, representing our nation at the Olympic Games?
“We put our lives, careers and financial security on hold to pursue this sport, only to have the opportunity taken away because we are deemed ‘not good enough’ to make the top eight or win a medal in our event.
“If we are dismissed despite being among the best in the world, why would we continue? If money is the factor, let us crowdsource or pay our own way. The current state of British Athletics’ selection … is driving people away and discouraging young athletes. This backward and unsustainable practice will ruin the sport.”
Purchase also highlighted deep concerns about how the governing body had designed and then enforced its selection policy, saying it had “ultimate control”.
She added: “You can’t have one bad mark as a British athlete without the fear of British Athletics using it against you. There are no checks and balances within British Athletics. I know I am risking loss of funding and future bias for speaking out about this issue; however, I would be doing myself, my fellow athletes, and future athletes a disservice if I didn’t try to make a change.
“I, like many others, have worked too hard for too long to be let down by the same people who are supposed to be our biggest supporters.”
Shot-putter Amelia Campbell called the policy “disgusting” and said that it was “killing” British athletics, while discus thrower Jade Lally said that she was “ashamed” to represent her national federation.
Steeplechaser Phil Norman, who missed the standard by 0.15sec despite posting the best British run in the event for 33 years, said that he had received no help from UK Athletics in pursuing his Paris Olympic dream. Campbell, Lally and Norman all now intend to retire, despite being good enough, according to their World Athletics rankings, to be invited to the Olympics.
“There is no logical reason and it is unjust,” said Norman, “I will continue to fight for the sport, not for myself but for future generations. I have a two-year-old son and I cannot watch him endure what I have been through.”
Jack Buckner, the UK Athletics chief executive, warned last year that there would be a shift in Olympic and World policy with likely smaller teams and a particular focus on what he called the “big hitters”. UK Athletics announced a £3.7 million loss in its most recent accounts but has denied that its policy is related to finances.
The Paris selection policy was first published in July 2023 and part of its rationale was to introduce measurable standards that eliminated more discretionary decisions. In what is a truly global sport of more than 200 affiliated nations, the UK Athletics standard is understood to reflect forecasts of what is needed to reach the top eight of an Olympic event.
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UKA say that they do not comment on selection issues and the subject was not addressed in head coach Paula Dunn’s statement announcing the team.
“It’s a brilliant mix of athletes who have multiple global medals alongside some amazing young talent that has only just broken through this season,” said Dunn. “We know from this we have a high-quality team for Paris next month who know how to produce their best when it counts and will be challenging for medals and those Olympic final spots.”
2024-07-05T11:41:49Z dg43tfdfdgfd