A 48 strong squad was selected this morning to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Braunschweig, Germany on 21 – 22 June at the European Team championships. Following on from a third place finish in the Super league last year in Gateshead, the team with its mixture of youth and experience will aim to challenge again for the podium again.
With a summer full of competitions for British athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the European Championships in Zurich, the team championships should act as an entertaining warm up for athletics fans.
Olympic champion and British record holder Greg Rutherford has been selected for the long jump. Eilidh Child will aim to defend her title after winning the 400m hurdles at the team championships last year. Will Sharman will hope to maintain his solid start to the season after running 13.32 in Hengelo at the weekend in the 110m hurdles.
There are some exciting selections with the likes of Jazmin Sawyers, Chris Baker and Lucy Bryan making their senior debuts in Germany in the long jump, high jump and pole vault respectively. They will hope to follow in the footsteps of Jessica Judd who stormed into the public eye with her victory in the event last year which culminated in selection for the senior world championships in Moscow.
British Athletics Performance Director Neil Black said: “We head to Germany with the aim of being competitive and to challenge for as many points as possible. In comparison to last year’s team, this is very much a developmental squad due to the confines of a crowded calendar this summer and the Sainsbury’s British Championships just a week later.
“It is also great that our senior 400m and 4x400m athletes have wholeheartedly supported the plan to give up and coming athletes the opportunity to perform on this stage.
“It will greatly benefit the teams for future major championships, and I am really looking forward to seeing how these guys perform. There may be one or two surprises.”
Russia will again be favourites to take the title but the Germans who finished second last year, will be strong on home soil. Alongside these teams, Great Britain & NI will face France, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Czech Republic, Sweden and the Netherlands in the team format.
GB & NI team for the European Athletics Team Championships:
MEN: 100m: Daniel Talbot (Dan Cossins) 200m: James Ellington (Rana Reider) 400m: Daniel Awde (Chris Zah) 800m: Mukhtar Mohammed (Jon Bigg) 1500m: Charlie Grice (Bigg) 3000m: Jonathan Mellor (Steve Vernon) 5000m: Luke Caldwell (Robert Russell) 110mH: William Sharman (Jerzy Maciukiewicz) 400mH: Rick Yates (Stephen Ball) 3000mSC: Luke Gunn (Bud Baldaro) High Jump: Chris Baker (Sharon Heveran) Long Jump: Greg Rutherford (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) Triple Jump: Phillips Idowu (Gary Bourne) Pole Vault: Steve Lewis (Dan Pfaff) Shot Put: Zane Duquemin (John Hillier) Discus Throw: Brett Morse Hammer Throw: Nick Miller (John Baumann) Javelin: Lee Doran (Chris Watts) 4 x 100m: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Reider), Ellington, Adam Gemili (Steve Fudge), Richard Kilty (Reider), Talbot 4 x 400m: Awde, Jarryd Dunn (Keith Holt), Rory Evans, Andrew Steele (Zah), Rabah Yousif (Carol Williams)
WOMEN: 100m: Asha Philip (Christine Bowmaker) 200m: Sophie Papps (Cossins) 400m: Shana Cox (George Williams) 800m: Jenny Meadows (Trevor Painter) 1500m: Hannah England (Baldaro) 3000m: Kate Avery (Tony Simmons) 5000m: Julia Bleasdale 100mH: Serita Solomon (Lloyd Cowan) 400mH: Eilidh Child (Malcolm Arnold) 3000mSC: Lennie Waite (Jim Bevan) High Jump: Isobel Pooley (Fuzz Ahmed) Long Jump: Jazmin Sawyers (Alan Lerwill) Triple Jump: Yamile Aldama (Frank Attoh) Pole Vault: Lucy Bryan (Charles Preston) Shot Put: Rachel Wallader (Geoff Capes) Discus Throw: Jade Lally (Andy Neal) Hammer Throw: Sophie Hitchon (Tore Gustafsson) Javelin: Isabelle Jeffs (Dave Parker) 4 x 100m: Louise Bloor (Toni Minichiello), Sophie Papps (Cossins), Philip, Bianca Williams (Lloyd Cowan), Jodie Williams (Bowmaker) 4 x 400m: Child, Cox, Emily Diamond (Cossins), Laura Wake (Dakin), J Williams
