LAKE & WILKINSON NAMED CO-CAPTAINS FOR EURO UNDER-23 CHAMPS

Morgan Lake (club: Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; coach: Fuzz Caan) and Callum Wilkinson (Enfield & Haringey; Andi Drake) have been named Co-Captains for this week’s European Under-23 Championships in Gavle, Sweden from July 11-14.

Lake and Wilkinson have proven pedigree at age-group level having been crowned world junior champions in 2014 and 2016 respectively and, both now established names on the senior British team, have been chosen as captains in Gavle by Team Leader Michael Afilaka.

Lake has represented the senior British team at every single major championships since winning double world junior gold five years ago, including an Olympic final appearance in the high jump at Rio 2016 and claiming Commonwealth silver last year, while she equalled her 1.97m personal best in January.

Wilkinson himself has enjoyed a fine year to date lowering his 20km race walk personal best to a British under-23 record 81:34, the second best all-time in the UK, winning European Cup team silver and confirming his spot at the IAAF World Championships later this year with victory at the British Championships last month.

Great Britain & Northern Ireland have never won a medal in the women’s high jump or men’s 20km race walk in the history of the European Under-23 Championships with Lake and Wilkinson acting as Co-Captains for a strong team of 56 athletes, the second largest ever selected for the event.

Morgan Lake said: “Every time you put on the British vest it is an amazing experience and especially being chosen to captain the team, it is a really proud moment and a massive honour. My first age-group championships was the World Youth Championships in Ukraine in 2013 and I feel I have progressed quite a lot since then. It is going to be really nice to be able to lead the team, chat to everyone and talk about my past experiences and see if that helps anyone, whether it is their first championships or like me their last. It is going to be really nice week.”

Callum Wilkinson said: “It is a massive honour to be named captain. It is a massive representation of the hard work that I have put in and the results that I have got this year. For a race walker and our event group, it is fantastic to get the nod and all of the recognition that comes with it. Hopefully with my captain’s hat on I can provide some more great results this week and lead from the front. I am a fairly experienced age-group competitor, I have been here before, had some good results and hopefully on Sunday I can help close a really great competition for the whole team.”

Team Leader Michael Afilaka said: “It is a pleasure to announce Morgan and Callum as co-captains of the British team for the European Under-23 Championships. Both Morgan and Callum have had tremendous success at age-group level and have taken that into the senior arena, representing the British team at the biggest events there are. Callum is having a great year so far and him being named captain is recognition of not just his own form but of the quality of race walking in the UK. They are both not only world-class athletes but also fantastic role models for everyone on the British team here in Gavle. I’ve no doubt both will lead by example in competition and also away from competition with their enthusiasm and love for the sport.”