UKA team for Paris 2024 Announced

Hunt got nowhere near the standard. Williams is off form but has the standard from last year. Amber Anning was just outside the 200 standard indoors. No controversy here.

No standard but she has the ranking so it's not like she couldn't go or anything

1. Hunt placed 3rd at UK trials

2. ran 22.78 in the rain into a negative wind (could obviously hit the standard of 22.57 in half decent conditions)

3. Williams is a nasty piece of work..

4. ...Who placed 8th at UK trials anyway

UKA making it really difficult for some athletes by not previously selecting them/adversely affecting their chances of getting into fast races, and then expecting them to meet their own standard at a wet and windy Manchester. Theres a reason the times at the UK Championships were a lot slower than at other national championships - the cold weather.

What stood out for me is the case of Jade Lally in the article "Lally’s discus throw of 63.15m is actually 13 places better in the world this year than the 64.95m mark set by Lawrence Okoyo, a ‘podium potential’ funded athlete on the men’s side. And yet his throw met the UKA standard by 5cm and she missed it by the same margin."

So they expect a woman discus thrower to meet a higher standard proportionately than a male who is funded.

Its time the selectors were elected by active members of British Athletics.

I feel so sorry for the athletes who have been left out and disappointed.

Ah ok thank. Haven’t been paying attention. Also haven’t seen much of Bianca Williams this year and Amy seems to be improving. But if one has the standard and the other doesn’t then that makes sense.

Interesting….!

Top 2 go plus one discretionary seems like a good system. If we did that we could have sent Athing Mu. Not sure I like that UK takes it on themselves to just not send qualified athletes based on rank though.

It *seems* like a good system, but they've gone too far with allowing athletes to dabble in other events with their spots assured. In Kenya (for instance) it is top 2 plus one discretionary but athletes run their primary events. I don't see what good it does for UK Athletics to have Keely running poor 400s at Nationals, or Kerr causing chaos in the 800m. Just keep the discretionary pick as a safeguard against weird outcomes or if necessary a way to facilitate doubles (that aren't doable at Nationals), but enough with giving athletes a free pass in their best event.

Top 2 go if they have the standard. After that, it’s discretionary spots, with medalists from the most recent championship having priority, and then looking at recent form/injury history. If the top 2 don’t have the standard, then multiple discretionary spots open up. Wightman could not be selected in the 1500 because Gourley and Mills placed top 2 at Trials and both have the standard. Kerr takes up the discretionary spot as a 2023 medalist. Wightman’s only hope after he had to scratch was that someone would place top 2 who didn’t have the standard. Will be unfortunate to not see Wightman in the 1500, but the rules were well known.

Saw Nuttal win trials and interview afterwards, and she didn’t even mention the Olympics, as she is a UK runner and KNOWS she’s about to be screwed. “Pathetic” is a great description of UKA.

He wanted to go Euros and they didn't take him? Why not? He's perfect for that level of competition, no?

I have no idea why they keep blocking him. So demoralising. Read his Instagram post he says ‘the euros would have been a huge opportunity and stepping stone for me but I was not granted that chance either’ He could have quite easily have got the standard there rather than a rainy day in Manchester. But they didn’t select him.

He says ‘I’ve had huge difficulty getting in to the big races this season’ it’s almost like British Athletics want him to fail. They are a joke.

Hannah Nuttall’s instagram post is so sad. She lost her Dad earlier in the year and put in such a gutsy performance. Yet they’ll deny her over 0.65 seconds.

the UK team has approximately 2 athletes that could make the final of the US champs.

sure US has a very great team, but only Kerr has a chance on the podium, according to the odds.

while Coe might doing a good job, UK running sucks, with nothing in the pipeline.

of course, a gifted athlete would play football, where there are more than 100 pro teams in country. the third division pays about $100k usd per year, there are 24 teams with a roster of 20 players plus. the fifth division pays about $1000 usd per week, and travel expenses / medical are covered.

so that's where the athletes go.

i stated in soccer playing in the middle of nowhere, was a protegee, but playing for a living was so pie in the sky, once a great result in track was achieved, and a path to success was established (train more and run faster), soccer was in the rear view mirror.

so it is kind of a fluke to get a top athlete to stick with track.

if born in the UK, track would never have been in the picture, zero, because playing football is a blast.

in track, they have what, a dozen proper races?

and #10 in the world pays what? $100-200k after expenses??

this is where the athletes in the UK go. which is to say, track needs more incentive, bigger crowds, excitement, and cash to attract talent.

something Coe can do nothing about.

harsh blunt unavoidable criticism works actually.

He didn't want to go to the Euros, he was still chasing the standard at the time knowing that the rankings points from Rome wouldn't matter. That's why Mark Pearce was selected for Rome with a slower time

I agree with this entirely. Kerr and Hodgkinson shouldn't get to piss around at a national champs. Here's why: Kerr taking third in his 800 heat meant that Alex Botterill missed out on the final by finishing 4th. Botterill had a legit outside shot of making the team. Kerr had no intention of running the 800 at the Olympics, so all he did in Manchester was deny a legit contender a place in the final. And in an event like the 800, which can be chaotic, anything can happen and outsiders can make the team.

Also, if we want national champs to be legit competitions in their own right, then athletes should value winning the title in their primary event. UKA can still keep the discretionary spot even if they force athletes I to their main events.

Fair enough. I would be okay with “and you have to pay in the event at nationals”

I was wondering about Kerr’s result — did he fall?