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Great Britain team announced for the Beijing World ChampionshipsPublished by
British Athletics names a 62-strong team for the IAAF World Championships in BeijingJessica Ennis-Hill has accepted selection and will form part of the 62-strong Great Britain team for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing from August 22-30. Her fellow Olympic champion Mo Farah is set to defend both his 5000m and 10,000m titles, while Katarina Johnson-Thompson is another athlete due to double up having been named alongside Ennis-Hill in the heptathlon as well as in the long jump. Greg Rutherford will look to complete the set and add the world long jump title to his Olympic, European and Commonwealth gold medals, while Britain will have three hammer throwers in action in the form of Sophie Hitchon, Mark Dry and Nick Miller, who recently broke the British record. Miller’s fellow recent UK record-breakers – Dina Asher-Smith and Shara Proctor – also form part of the team. Asher-Smith, who ran 10.99 for 100m in London on Saturday, goes in the 200m and has been included in the 4x100m relay squad, while Proctor, who leapt 6.98m to better her own long jump mark in London, will line up alongside the likes of Johnson-Thompson and Lorraine Ugen in Beijing. Explaining how “doubling up wasn’t in the plan this year”, Asher-Smith tweeted: “I only wanted to focus on the 200, I’ve not been ignored for 100!” Adam Gemili, who suffered injury earlier this season, has been included as part of the 4x100m relay, while Richard Kilty joins James Dasaolu and Chijindu Ujah in 100m selection. Anguilla-born Zharnel Hughes, who had his GB allegiance confirmed last month, is joined by Danny Talbot in the 200m. Asha Philip is GB’s sole representative in the women’s 100m, while Margaret Adeoye and Bianca Williams are included along with Asher-Smith in the 200m leaving European and Commonwealth 200m silver medallist Jodie Williams without an individual place but she features in the 4x100m relay squad. Among those missing from the team is the likes of steeplechaser Lennie Waite, European 10,000m silver medallist Andy Vernon and sprint hurdler Lucy Hatton. Waite took to her blog to announce that she will be appealing her omission, saying that she feels “powerless and undervalued”. The British 3000m steeplechase champion had achieved the qualifying standard for Beijing once but the British Athletics selection criteria states that two standards must be set in order to secure automatic selection after a trials top two spot. Olympic high jump bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz and European junior 800m champion Kyle Langford are among the athletes to have been selected off a single qualifying standard. Vernon voiced his disappointment on Twitter, writing: “Really disappointed to be left out of the World Champs team for Beijing. Maybe one day someone in British Athletics will believe in me.” Commenting on the team selections, British Athletics performance director Neil Black said: “Beijing is a hugely important event to us, yet this is the first of three huge global competitions for us, with the Olympics in Rio next year and the home World Championships in 2017. “In selecting athletes we were looking at either a potential to finish top eight in this year’s Worlds or to give opportunities to athletes developing towards medal success in 2016 and beyond. “I’m very confident we have selected a team who can be successful in Beijing, as well as use it as a platform on to further Olympic and World successes.” GB & NI team for the IAAF World ChampionshipsMEN 100m 200m 400m 800m 1500m 5000m 10,000m 110m hurdles 400m hurdles High jump Long jump Pole vault Hammer throw 20km walk 4x100m relay 4x400m relay WOMEN 100m 200m 400m 800m 1500m 5000m 10,000m 100m hurdles 400m hurdles High jump Long jump Pole vault Hammer throw Javelin Heptathlon 4x100m relay 4x400m relay The post Great Britain team announced for the Beijing World Championships appeared first on Athletics Weekly. Read the full article at: www.athleticsweekly.com
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