Kilty to captain GB & NI tream

TEESSIDE Tornado Richard Kilty will captain the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha.

The Middlesbrough-born, Stockton-raised sprinter was voted team skipper by his fellow athletes for the global event, which runs from September 27 to October 6.

Kilty, the 2014 World Indoor 60m champion and European indoor champion in 2015 and 2017, received the most votes after every member of the 73-strong British team was given the chance to nominate their choice of captain.

A delighted Kilty, who runs for Mandale and is coached by Benke Blomkvist, said: “It feels incredible. It’s always a huge honour to represent the British team but to be selected as captain feels amazing. It will definitely go down as a special moment in my athletics career.

“A lot of the athletes in the squad have leadership skills and would do an amazing job at being captain, so to think that they have voted me in is a huge honour and I’m over the moon with being captain.

“I have lots of experience and enthusiasm, which I will be sharing with the squad. I will bring energy and confidence to everyone around me from the athletes to the staff.

“I’ve got a great story to tell and I will try my best to inspire the team every moment from my team speech and on a daily basis over the course of the championships.”

A European gold medallist in the men’s 4x100m relay from 2014 and reigning Commonwealth champion in the event, Kilty has been in fine form again this summer, winning the 200m at the European Team Championships last month and coming within 0.05 of his personal best of 20.34, which he set six years ago.

Selected for his fourth successive World Championships as part of the men’s 4x100m relay squad, Kilty is the sixth British athlete to have been voted as captain by his fellow athletes and, as part of his role, will deliver the pre-championships captain’s speech at the British team meeting.

Team leader Neil Black said: “Richard is an inspiration to his team-mates on the track and to so many off it as well, in particular through his work with young people, especially at his home on Teesside.

“It is no surprise that his peers have voted him as captain of the British team for Doha.”