Bennett: I’ll go hammer and tongs

LINFORD CHRISTIE took to Twitter yesterday to lambast all the A-list athletes giving this weekend’s Olympic trials a miss. Whatever your thoughts of the 100m champion of Barcelona 1992, Christie’s view that it should be “no show, no go” will resonate.

But while the likes of Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford have been handed free passes to Rio, hammer thrower Chris Bennett knows the battle for selection in his event will be cut-throat. After throwing 76.45m in Hungary last weekend, the 26-year-old Glaswegian will join fellow Scot Mark Dry and US-based Nick Miller in a fascinating three-way fight.

All nestle just short of the designated standard of 77m and while Miller lies in pole position, Bennett notes: “He’s not uncatchable. The three of us will push each other and that should make trials an interesting competition because it will be the first time we all meet. It adds a bit of spice that UK Athletics have moved it to the Sunday and it will be on the BBC.”

Bennett,who is coached by former Commonwealth champion Mick Jones, hopes a good performance will book him a place on the plane to Rio. “You could have three guys going to the Olympics. The last time that happened was in the 1980s. And the standards were different then. The level of competitions have come down because they’re catching out people using drugs. But that’s great for us because it levels the playing field.”