TEAM GB NAME STRONG ATHLETICS SQUAD FOR PARIS OLYMPICS BUT SELECTION ROW RUMBLES ON

Jake Wightman will represent Great Britain in the 800m at the Olympic Games after the 2022 world champion over 1500m received a discretionary spot having missed last month’s trials owing to a calf injury.

And that means Elliot Giles, who captained GB in June’s European Championships, will not be heading to Paris after being tripped late in the final of the trials.

UK Athletics confirmed its team this afternoon and it contains few surprises. Zharnel Hughes, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, has been named in both the 100m and 200m, while Eilish McColgan is included in the 10,000m despite only recently coming back from a long injury lay-off.

And reigning Olympic medallists Keely Hodgkinson (800m), Josh Kerr (1500m), Holly Bradshaw (pole vault) and Laura Muir (1500m) are all selected. Molly Caudery, the new superstar of pole vault, is named alongside breakthrough stars Phoebe Gill (800m) and Louie Hinchcliffe (100m).

CJ Ujah, who recently returned from a doping ban to compete in Rome, is not in the men's 4x100m relay team. But a row is set to rage over the controversial selection policy that means a number of athletes who had met World Athletics’ qualifying standards are not going to Paris.

The British qualification approach is designed to focus on athletes with podium potential. Across many events a separate, harder to attain mark had been set by British Athletics - meaning up to a dozen athletes will stay at home while competitors from other countries with lower rankings are set to compete in their stead.

That includes discus athlete Jade Lally, who recently threw 63.15m - the best mark set by a Brit in more than 40 years. She told the Telegraph: “I have to retire because of British Athletics. I’m proud but I’m ashamed to represent British Athletics.

“If you are a British athlete, and have missed out on a championship, I would 100 per cent encourage anybody to switch to another country if that is an option. I feel I have wasted a career trying to prove a federation wrong.”

Men’s steeplechase duo Phil Norman and Zak Seddon are in the same boat having both run the Olympic standard but not the British time, with Norman .15 off the 8:18.50 set by UKA, while shot put champion Amelia Campbell is also expected to retire for the same reason.

Head coach Paula Dunn said: “Congratulations to all the athletes and their support networks on their selection for Paris 2024. It is a huge moment in their careers, and they have all worked incredibly hard to get into this position. I wish all the selected athletes well in their last few weeks of preparation and we will continue to ensure that they can optimise and maximise all the support required leading into Paris.

“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. We saw a number of athletes step up at this weekend’s Microplus UK Athletics Championships with some exceptional performances across the board to get those standards.

“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. It’s an exciting time for everyone, and we’re incredibly proud of the team named today.”

2024-07-05T12:51:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd