Britain’s Gemili in danger of missing world championships
LONDON: Britain’s Adam Gemili may well miss out on individual selection for next month’s World Athletics Championships after finishing sixth in the men’s 200 metres final at the British trials in Birmingham on Sunday.
Gemili, the 2014 European champion at the distance, refused to blame a thigh problem for his poor performance which left him in danger of missing out on the third discretionary place after Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Danny Talbot claimed the top two spots.
“That’s nowhere near my standard -- I didn’t come in and execute a good race at all,” said Gemili. “I’m not fit and where I need to be at the moment but I had to race here and I gave it my best shot.
“I have to put forward my case based on my history but at the moment I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ve not been running 100 percent all season and we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Meanwhile former Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu is also in danger of missing out on the worlds in London after she failed to make the national final at the distance on Saturday.
The 33-year- old had previously reversed a retirement decision in order to give herself a chance of running again at the Olympic Stadium track, which is near her childhood home in east London.
One consolation for Ohuruogu is that she could soon become Britain’s most decorated world medallist after Russia’s Anastasiya Kapachinskaya failed a drugs test. That in turn could lead to Ohuruogu being given relay bronze for both the 2009 and 2011 world championships, enabling her to go two in front of Mo Farah with eight career world medals to her credit. — AFP