World Cup dubbed ‘a big flop’ as top Britons stay away
Big names follow US rivals in snubbing event Diamond League meet proves greater attraction
The inaugural Athletics World Cup has been labelled “a big flop” after it emerged the majority of big-name British athletes were snubbing an event their governing body dubbed a “magic bullet” for the sport.
A week after the United States named a team missing a raft of Olympic and world champions, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Britain will also be without almost all their headline names when the team is named tomorrow.
Of the 15 Britons on top-level funding, just four will line up at the event, which takes place at London’s Olympic Stadium on July 14-15. Those four all compete in field events, while leading track performers Dina Asher-smith, Adam Gemili, Zharnel Hughes and Laura Muir have opted not to take their place in individual events.
The men’s sprint races have been the worst affected, with almost all Britain’s international sprinters missing them. Reece Prescod, Hughes, Chijindu Ujah and Nethaneel Mitchell-blake – the men who occupied the top four 100 metre spots at last weekend’s British Championships – will all be absent.
Mitchell-blake, who was guaranteed a place in the British team as national 200metres champion, will miss the longer sprint, as will Gemili and Leon Reid. “This is in danger of turning into a big flop,” one coach, whose athlete is not entering, said. Another said: “It’s just not that appetising.”
News of the poor turnout will cause further embarrassment to UK Athletics after the US named a team shorn of big names.
UK Athletics expects around two thirds of athletes crowned British champions last weekend to take their place for a competition that features the top-eight athletics nations – Britain, the US, South Africa, Poland, France, China, Germany and Jamaica. One male and one female from each country will contest all field and track events up to 1,500 metres, with points collected to decide a winning nation.
The governing body has compiled a prize fund in excess of $2 million (£1.52 million), with its chief executive Niels de Vos heralding the event as “a magic bullet” with “all the best bits of the World Championships rolled into two sessions”. The likes of Elaine Thompson and Shelly-ann Fraserpryce have been named in the Jamaica team, but scheduling conflicts and an absence of appearance fees mean the event has failed to attract the attention of many.
All the world’s leading male sprinters have chosen to compete at the Rabat Diamond League on Friday week, instead of representing their country. Although the winning nation will share a prize fund of $450,000, athletes will not be paid to compete at the World Cup. Leading athletes can command five-figure appearance fees at Diamond League events.