Next time I’ll bring two pairs of spikes, says Kilty

Theft led to false start, says sprinter Champion wins final indoor place

Richard Kilty has claimed he almost missed out on the chance to defend his European indoor 60 metres title when a rival “stole” his running spikes moments before the final at the British trials.

Kilty was the fastest qualifier from the heats and semifinals at the British Indoor Championships nine days ago, but suffered his fifth false start in just over two years, and was disqualified from the final. At the time he admitted he had “been stupid” to go before the gun, but a week later revealed that there may have been a more sinister element at play.

“You’ll have noticed my spikes in the final,” he said. “My spikes were stolen from the call room. I didn’t want to make any excuses, but everything was going smoothly, I headed to the call room and my spikes weren’t there.

“The physios tipped up every bed and bag but they weren’t there, so my mind was going a million miles an hour. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to run.

“I had a pair that belonged to [British 400m runner] Luke Lennon-Ford in the back of my car. They were a size 10, a size and a half too big, but I strapped them on. I was on the marks thinking, ‘Can I do this?’ I can honestly say it was just [that] my emotions were everywhere.”

Kilty wore his usual spikes through the rounds in Sheffield. Asked if he believed they were removed as an act of sabotage, he said: “Potentially. Next time I’ll know to bring two pairs, lock them up and that’s it.”

A British Athletics spokesman confirmed that Kilty’s missing yellow spikes were later located, and the runner did not lodge a complaint.

Andrew Robertson and Theo Etienne confirmed their places in the British team for the European Indoor Championships with a one-two finish.

That left the European Indoor champion fighting to claim the discretionary spot – a task he fulfilled by finishing as leading British sprinter at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.

Although he was only third behind American Ronnie Baker and Kim Collins of St Kitts & Nevis, Kilty’s season’s best of 6.57 sec places him second in the European rankings behind team-mate Chijindu Ujah, who has opted to miss the Championships. Laid low with illness over the past week, Kilty says he can challenge the personal-best 6.49 sec he set when winning a shock world title in 2014.

“I woke up on Wednesday with cold sweats and I’m full of flu,” said Kilty, who became a father to a son, also called Richard, over the winter. “I was considering not coming [to Birmingham], and when I was warming up I could barely breathe.

“But I thought, ‘I’m going to have to be tough, I want to be able to defend my title’. All winter through training I’ve just been thinking about how much I want to bring that medal home to my little boy.”

Kilty also spoke about his shock at the injuries suffered by British sprinters James Ellington and Nigel Levine in a motorcycle accident while attending a training camp in Tenerife. Both fractured their pelvis, in addition to other injuries, and have been ruled out of competition for at least this year.

“I hope I will get down to visit them next week,” said Kilty, who is close friends with both. “We’ve got a relay camp this weekend and it’s going to be strange not to see James there. Hopefully they can bring them in during the summer and they can play a huge part, even if it is just team support.”