Kilty ‘gutted’ at not being allowed to defend sprint title
British Athletics stands by tough selection policy Only Edoburun picked to compete in Glasgow
Richard Kilty, the reigning double European 60metres champion, has hit out at not being given the chance to attempt a historic hattrick in Glasgow next month after British Athletics was forced into selecting just one male sprinter despite having three spots to fill.
While organisers European Athletics allow anyone who has run 6.78seconds or less to compete at the European Indoor Championships, British Athletics decided to implement a selection requirement of 6.60sec. That is a time only Reece Prescod and Chijindu Ujah have managed – and both have opted not to compete in Glasgow.
That left the governing body only able to pick people based on their 100m times from last summer, with Ojie Edoburun – who finished last in the 60m at last week’s British Championships – the sole option.
His selection means the host nation will be without a number of athletes capable of extending the country’s record of winning a men’s 60m medal at 16 successive European Indoor Championships. Most notable is former world champion Kilty, who, on the comeback trail from Achilles tendon surgery last summer, has improved to run 6.63sec and 6.64sec in Birmingham on Saturday and is ranked 11th in Europe.
“I’m gutted not to be selected,” he said. “I’ve never been so upset in my career. It’s heartbreaking not being able to stand on the line and defend a title which I have won twice. It was my dream when I woke up from surgery to defend it. I gave it my all, I was hoping the selectors had faith in me.
“Their selection is confusing and I think the standards are inconsistent. I have run faster [indoors this winter] than everyone in the UK who is eligible for selection. I will be appealing the decision.”
Had British Athletics loosened their selection mark only slightly to 6.65sec, they would have been able to choose from a pool of a dozen men to fill the three spots for Glasgow.
While the governing body’s self-imposed men’s standard of 6.60sec would have guaranteed a medal at the last edition of the European Indoor Championships, the British Athletics women’s standard of 7.25sec would not even have made the final. Analysis of the qualification marks shows how out of kilter the men’s 60m is with the rest of the events. Discounting the tactically run middle-distance disciplines, the men’s 60m is the sole event with a standard so tough that it would have earned a medal at the 2017 European Indoor Championships.
Neil Black, British Athletics performance director, insisted there was nothing wrong with the qualification criteria. “We had a policy which says the qualification mark is 6.60sec,” he said. “That’s been the
men’s qualification mark since 2013 for the European Indoors.
“If you look back through history that is a standard that historically many people have achieved. It’s never been questioned in the past and it’s a standard that we’ve all been comfortable with. “This year, for a combination of reasons, athletes haven’t met that standard. I don’t think that means there’s a problem, or athletes aren’t performing, or the standard is wrong.”
Elsewhere in the 48-strong British team for Glasgow, Adelle Tracey has been given the third 800m spot ahead of Olympic and world finalist Lynsey Sharp, who has been out of form indoors this winter, while Andrew Pozzi will unexpectedly defend his 60m hurdles title despite not running since last August through injury. Laura Muir will look to retain her 1500m and 3,000m crowns on home soil when the competition begins on March 1.