Ohuruogu: It is a lottery on the road to Tokyo

Olympic and world champion Christine Ohuruogu has warned the latest generation of Team GB stars they face a lottery as they look to emulate her achievement in Tokyo this year.

Ohuruogu, who swept to 400 metres gold in Beijing in 2008 and took silver in London four years later, believes the global pandemic has created an unfair playing field for elite athletes.

Dina Asher-smith and Katarina Johnson-thompson are among those targeting the top of the podium, with women looking set to outnumber their male counterparts in a Team GB Olympic squad for the first time. Ohuruogu (right) said: “I think the current situation is a difficult one to navigate, and I’m really proud of all those athletes who have kept their resolve and managed to find a way round the issues.

“I really do feel for those elite athletes because when it comes to Tokyo it’s going to be a case of who’s prepared the best, who’s had access to facilities and who’s faced minimal disruption to their training programmes.

“These things count. At any usual Olympics you’d expect everyone to have similar preparation resources, but some will have had far less than others in terms of access to facilities and the medical side of things.” For Ohuruogu, this year’s International Women’s Day is particularly important, given its ability to re-focus on issues surrounding girls in grass-roots sport as it prepares to re-start in the wake of the pandemic. She said: “International Women’s Day is an opportunity for everyone to understand that this can be a really good time to encourage women to take part in sport, and the benefits of being healthier which is good not just for the physical side but for the mental side as well.”