Squad of 67 athletes to represent UK at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu - Athletics news
With the IAAF World Championships in athletics to commence in three weeks time, UK Athletics has announced their 67-member squad for the global athletics tournament. The most prominent athletes visiting Daegu this month will be defending world champions,
Jessica Ennis and Phillips Idowu.
Other big names to mark their appearance at the world championships track and who have also been tipped-off for a sure success are Mo Farah and Dai Greene, along with formidable runners Lisa Dobriskey and Jenny Meadows.
Besides measuring athletes’ potential and current form at the Aviva London Grand Prix and in a number of other events, another standard for selecting right players was to see their previous records. As per these criteria, athletes who have marked their dominance
in last year’s European championships and Commonwealth games could not be neglected at any cost.
Perhaps, this is the reason way Andy Turner, Chris Tomlinson and Christian Malcolm are being sent for the world championships to represent the English team in 110m Hurdles, Long jump and 200m races, respectively.
As the chief coach of UK Athletics, Charles van Commenee had promised, besides experienced players, care was taken that young performers would also get an equal chance of representing their homeland in the big event. Building on this view, athletes like
Jack Green, the current European U-23 400m Hurdling champion along with Lawrence Clarke, the reigning European U-23 110m Hurdles bronze medallist have also been given a chance to show their talent in South Korea.
Joining them in the course will be Yamile Aldama, the Triple Jumper who is going to represent UK on an international forum for the first time. From veterans, who have been a part of UK’s squad for big events in the past, but who could not emerge in recent
events amid injuries, the team includes Dwain Chambers, Jeanette Kwayke and Goldie Sayers.
Athletes that have been selected entirely on the basis of the performance they displayed in recent events are comprised of Helen Clitheroe, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Holly Bleasdale, James Shane and Tiffany Porter.
Commenting on the selection, UK athletics’ head coach said that he had put the best team together for the world championships and thus, was expecting a better medal tally than what the squad earned in Berlin two years ago. He said, “This team has been selected
to give us the best possible results at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu. I am looking to see an improvement from two years ago in Berlin, where we recorded six medals and 20 top eight finishes.”
Now, to what extent the efforts of the head coach and players are rewarded, is yet to be seen as the event unfolds in three weeks’ time in South Korea.
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