Over 30 British athletes booked their places at this summer’s rescheduled Olympic Games across three days of thrills and spills at the Müller British Championships in Manchester.
Around 780 prospects descended on the Manchester Regional Arena bidding for a spot on the plane to Tokyo, with a performance and result meeting the required standard for a place in the full British team that will be announced on June 29.
The first bout of action saw four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah fall short in his quest to earn a shot at defending his men’s 10,000m crown for a second time, missing the 27m 28s selection mark by 19 seconds.
The 38-year-old had previously missed the standard at the European 10,000m Cup earlier in June, and will miss out on what would have been a fourth career Games.
On Saturday 16 athletes qualified for the Olympics, with 2013 European indoor gold medallist Holly Bradshaw showcasing her women’s pole vault medal intentions with a British record of 4.90m.
While earning her $5000 and a ninth British title, that effort moved Bradshaw - already a double Olympian - into third in the world rankings for 2021.
She said: “I knew I was in good shape, and I broke a nine-year record so I feel I am in the shape of my life.
“It’s a great place to be. It’s so relaxed and it was a nice environment in Manchester, and I just had to do my thing.”
World 200m champion and Rio 2016 bronze medallist Dina Asher-Smith clocked 10.97s in the women’s 100m showpiece to bag the British title and her place in Tokyo, having broken the stadium record with a time of 10.91s in the semi-finals.
“I know I’m in good shape,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to compete in a few more races before Tokyo and I’ll just keep training hard and stay focused.”
Lawrence Okoye sealed a return to the Olympics nine years after reaching the London final, coming back from seven years playing American football in the USA to throw 61.71m and take the men’s discus title.
There were also big wins for CJ Ujah (men’s 100m), Tom Gale (men’s high jump), Josh Kerr (men’s 1500m), Jodie Williams (women’s 400m) and Scott Lincoln (men’s shot put) who will also feature in Japan.
A further 17 names were added to the list of Tokyo qualifiers on Sunday, with teenager Keely Hodgkinson pipping Scottish pair Jemma Reekie and Laura Muir in the women’s 800m.
The 19-year-old - who broke the world under-20 record in January and stormed to European Indoor gold in March - produced a stunning closing lap to cross the line in 1m 59.61s ahead of Reekie and Muir in second and third respectively.
“Every athlete’s aim is to make the final and mine will be the same going into Tokyo,” said Hodgkinson. “But it will be a challenge with the calibre of the athletes.”
Double Olympian Adam Gemili will look to go one better than his fourth-place finish in Rio in the men’s 200m after notching his third British title in a time of 20.63s. Jodie Williams was victorious in the women’s event, after her 400m exploits a day earlier.
Elliot Giles (men’s 800m), Tiffany Porter (women’s 100m hurdles), Jazmin Sawyers (women’s long jump), Morgan Lake (women’s high jump), Jessica Judd (women’s 5000m), Taylor Campbell (men’s hammer throw) and Harry Coppell (men’s pole vault) were among the other winners on the final day of action.
Sportsbeat 2021