Ladder leader Muir headlines British Athletics team for European Athletics Indoor Championships
runbritain ladder leader, Laura Muir (handicap -3.1) will launch a bid to become double European Champion this March in the 1500m and 3000m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Muir, who will be joined in both the 1500m and 3000m by the 2nd placer on the ladder, Eilish McColgan (handicap -2.3), is in the form of her life after taking a second off Dame Kelly Holmes' British indoor 1,000m mark at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday, whilst also setting a new European record with the second fastest run of all time. This comes just a few weeks after setting a new European 3,000m indoor record and the British 5,000m indoor record, on top of beating Holmes' British outdoor 1500m mark last summer.
Britain has a number of podium potentials in Belgrade, with Andrew Pozzi, currently ranked world number one in the 60m hurdles, David King and David Omoregie making up an incredibly strong trio of male British hurdlers. In the men’s 60m, Richard Kilty will be looking to defend his title, with British Indoor champion Andrew Robertson and Theo Etienne hot on his heels. Whilst World Indoor medallist and British Champion Lorraine Ugen, European medallist Jazmin Sawyers and Katarina Johnson-Thompson will all be looking to claim Britain’s first European Indoor medal for 33 years in the women’s Long Jump.
Performance Director for British Athletics, Neil Black said: “I’m pleased with the blend of this team. We’ve got Olympic medallists in Robbie Grabarz, Eilidh Doyle and Asha Philip; World Indoor medallists in Lorraine Ugen and Richard Kilty; as well as exceptionally talented athletes like Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Laura Muir and Andrew Pozzi, all of whom I expect to make the step up this year and start winning global medals.
“Then we have Jazmin Sawyers and Steph Twell, European medallists who should be looking to make a statement of intent for 2017 by repeating those performances and finishing on the podium in Belgrade. Plus, there is a good depth of emerging talent with the likes of Shelayna Oskan-Clarke, Morgan Lake and David Omoregie, who all have potential to claim medals.
“With a home World Championships in London, 2017 is an even bigger year for us than 2016, so starting it off in a positive manner is essential and I am expecting to see a number of medal winning performances in Belgrade.”
The British Athletics team for the European Athletics Indoor Championships:
MEN:
60m:
Richard Kilty
Andrew Robertson
Theo Etienne
800m:
Guy Learmonth (-6.1)
Kyle Langford (-5.1)
1500m:
Tom Lancashire (-5.5)
3000m:
Nick Goolab (-3.8)
60mH:
Andrew Pozzi
David King
David Omoregie
High Jump:
Robbie Grabarz
Chris Kandu
Allan Smith
Long Jump:
Dan Bramble
Combined Events:
Ashley Bryant
Liam Ramsey
WOMEN:
60m:
Asha Philip
400m:
Eilidh Doyle
Laviai Nielsen
Lina Nielsen
800m:
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (-1.4)
1500m:
Laura Muir (-3.1)
Eilish McColgan (-2.3)
Sarah McDonald (-1.4)
3000m:
Laura Muir (-3.1)
Eilish McColgan (-2.3)
Steph Twell (-1.7)
High Jump:
Morgan Lake
Long Jump:
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Lorraine Ugen
Jazmin Sawyers
Shot Put:
Rachel Wallader
4x400m
Eilidh Doyle
Laviai Nielsen
Lina Nielsen
Philippa Lowe
Mary Iheke