26th February 2019

LEARMONTH VOTED AS CAPTAIN BY TEAMMATES FOR EUROPEAN INDOORS

Guy Learmonth (club: Lasswade; coach: Henry Gray) has been voted by his fellow athletes as captain of the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team for this week’s European Indoor Championships on home soil in Glasgow from 1-3 March.

Learmonth, who made his major senior British international debut at the Championships in Prague four years ago, received the most votes after every member of the record 49-strong team for Glasgow was given the chance to nominate who they would like to be captain.

The 26-year-old has enjoyed a successful indoor season so far, opening up with an indoor 800m personal best of 1:46.98 in Boston before securing his place on the British team for Glasgow with silver at the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships earlier this month.

Learmonth follows in the footsteps of fellow Scottish athlete Eilidh Doyle (Pitreavie; Brian Doyle), Andrew Pozzi (Stratford-upon-Avon; Santiago Antunez), Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; Jon Bigg) and Dai Greene (Swansea; Benke Blomkvist) in being chosen captain by his teammates and as part of his role, he will deliver the pre-Championships captain’s speech at the British team meeting.

Guy Learmonth said: “It is an absolute honour to be named captain of this incredibly strong British team ahead of a home championships this weekend. It is something that never crossed my mind, so it has come as a total surprise. To everyone that voted for me, thank you, I am truly humbled. Like every championship, we need to set our goals high. I firmly believe we can finish at the top of that medal table and there is no better place to do it than on home soil. I will do my absolute best on and off the track for the rest of the team and be the best captain I can possible be. Glasgow, get ready, this is going to be one to remember.”

Neil Black, British Athletics Performance Director, said: “I am delighted for Guy that he has been chosen as captain for what is truly a home championships for him. Once again, we have asked selected athletes to choose who they want to lead the team and this will mean an incredible amount to Guy. To know you have the admiration of your peers is a special feeling for any athlete and I have no doubt that he will lead by example on and off the track in Glasgow and go above and beyond in his role as captain.”