17th February 2019
BRITISH ATHLETICS NAME RECORD TEAM FOR EUROPEAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
British Athletics have today named a record equalling number of 48 athletes for the European Indoor Championships on home soil in Glasgow from March 1-3.
Double European indoor champion Laura Muir (club: Dundee Hawkhill; coach: Andy Young), Asha Philip (Newham & Essex Beagles; Steve Fudge) and Andrew Pozzi (Stratford-upon-Avon; Santiago Antunez) all return to defend their titles from the last edition in Belgrade in 2017.
Holly Bradshaw (Blackburn; Scott Simpson) and Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Liverpool; Bertrand Valcin) are both also European indoor gold medallists, from Gothenburg in 2013 and Prague in 2015, and their selection completes a list of five European indoor champions selected, the most ever for Great Britain & Northern Ireland at a single edition of the event.
Two other medallists from Belgrade in 2017 are included in the team, Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill; Liz Nuttall) and Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; Jon Bigg), the latter among 18 to have been crowned a British champion on the road to Glasgow.
There will be a record number of nine Scottish athletes selected on the British team including the nation’s most decorated track and field athlete Eilidh Doyle (Pitreavie; Brian Doyle) and European indoor 1500m bronze medallist Chris O’Hare (Edinburgh; Terrence Mahon), who is making the step up to 3000m.
For the second successive major championships there are more women (26) than men (22) selected while there are ten athletes set to make their major senior international debut. Joe Reid (Cardiff; Matt Elias) is one of those and is also the first ever athlete from the Isle of Man to represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland at a major international championships.
Kristal Awuah (Herne Hill; Matthew Thomas) is another senior newcomer and one of three to make the step up having competed at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Finland last year. Amber Anning (Brighton & Hove; Lloyd Cowan), who won British silver in the 400m, is the youngest member of the team having turned 18 in November.
British Athletics Performance Director Neil Black said: “We are delighted to have selected our biggest and strongest ever team for the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, which is yet another major international championships for us on home soil. Competition for places has been fierce, the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships, where athletes are required to compete in order to earn selection, in particular were extremely competitive across several events and that high level of performances continued at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham yesterday.
“With the IAAF World Championships, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, drawing ever closer, Glasgow is a great opportunity for our athletes to defend titles, win medals and show their quality on a major international stage. Once again, we have demonstrated that athletics is a truly equal sport by selecting more women than men with four of those 26 having won European indoor gold while there are a further four who have medalled previously at the event.
“It is fantastic to have our biggest ever contingent of Scottish athletes for a major championships in their backyard and we look forward to watching every single member of the team thrive in front of a home crowd. Glasgow is the last major championships before the IAAF World Championships in Doha later in the year and we expect to be extremely competitive.”
Finally, having been unable to compete at the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships and not originally expecting to regain fitness in time for Glasgow, Andrew Pozzi’s selection is subject to the world indoor champion in the 60m hurdles proving his fitness ahead of the championships.
The British team selected for the European Indoor Championships Glasgow 2019:
MEN:
60m:
Ojie Edoburun (Shaftesbury Barnet; Steve Fudge)
400m
Cameron Chalmers (Guernsey; James Hillier)
Alex Haydock-Wilson (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; Michael Baker)
Owen Smith (Cardiff; Matt Elias)
800m
Guy Learmonth (Lasswade; Henry Gray)
Joe Reid (Cardiff; Matt Elias)
Jamie Webb (Liverpool; Adrian Webb)
1500m
Robbie Fitzgibbon (Brighton; Jon Bigg)
Elliot Giles (Birchfield Harriers; Jon Bigg)
Neil Gourley (Giffnock North; Mark Rowland)
3000m
Andrew Butchart (Central; Terrence Mahon)
Charlie Grice (Brighton; Jon Bigg)
Chris O’Hare (Edinburgh; Terrence Mahon)
60m Hurdles
David King (City of Plymouth; James Hillier)
Andrew Pozzi (Stratford-upon-Avon; Santiago Antunez)
High Jump
Chris Baker (Sale Harriers; Graham Ravenscroft)
Long Jump
Feron Sayers (Birchfield Harriers; Aston Moore)
Triple Jump
Nathan Douglas (Oxford City; Aston Moore)
Julian Reid (Sale Harriers; Aston Moore)
4x400m Relay
Joe Brier (Swansea; Matt Elias)
Cameron Chalmers (Guernsey; James Hillier)
Alex Haydock-Wilson (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; Michael Baker)
Owen Smith (Cardiff; Matt Elias)
Thomas Somers (Newham & Essex Beagles; Benke Blomkvist)
Heptathlon
Tim Duckworth (Liverpool; Toby Stevenson)
WOMEN
60m
Kristal Awuah (Herne Hill; Matthew Thomas)
Rachel Miller (Thames Valley; Linford Christie)
Asha Philip (Newham & Essex Beagles; Steve Fudge)
400m
Amber Anning (Brighton & Hove; Lloyd Cowan)
Zoey Clark (Thames Valley; Eddie McKenna)
Eilidh Doyle (Pitreavie; Brian Doyle)
800m
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow; Jon Bigg)
Mari Smith (Birchfield Harriers; Bud Baldaro)
Adelle Tracey (Guildford & Godalming; Craig Winrow)
1500m
Sarah McDonald (Birchfield Harriers; David Harmer)
Laura Muir (Dundee Hawkhill; Andy Young)
Jemma Reekie (Kilbarchan; Andy Young)
3000m
Melissa Courtney (Poole; Rob Denmark)
Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill; Liz Nuttall)
Laura Muir (Dundee Hawkhill; Andy Young)
High Jump
Morgan Lake (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow; Fuzz Caan)
Pole Vault
Holly Bradshaw (Blackburn; Scott Simpson)
Long Jump
Abigail Irozuru (Sale Harriers; Tom Cullen)
Jazmin Sawyers (City of Stoke; Lance Brauman)
Jahisha Thomas (Blackheath & Bromley; John Shepherd)
Triple Jump
Naomi Ogbeta (Trafford; Tom Cullen)
Shot Put
Sophie McKinna (Great Yarmouth; Mike Winch)
Amelia Strickler (Thames Valley; Zane Duquemin)
4x400m Relay
Amber Anning (Brighton & Hove; Lloyd Cowan)
Zoey Clark (Thames Valley; Eddie McKenna)
Eilidh Doyle (Pitreavie; Brian Doyle)
Phillipa Lowe (Dacorum & Tring; Deborah Keenleyside)
Laviai Nielsen (Enfield & Haringey; Christine Bowmaker)
Pentathlon
Niamh Emerson (Amber Valley & Erewash; David Feeney)
Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Liverpool; Bertrand Valcin)