British Canoeing announce senior slalom team for 2015 season while Natasha Jonas announces her retirement from boxing. Here's our review of the last 24 hours.
Rio 2016 is now a step closer for Britain’s best canoe slalom athletes after the team was confirmed for this year’s international season.
Having dominated last weekend’s trials, London 2012 silver medallists David Florence and Richard Hounslow get the nod as does reigning C2 Olympic champion Etienne Stott along with new partner Mark Proctor.
This summer sees the European Championships, World Cup series and World Championships all take place with final Olympic selection in October.
Canoe slalom head coach Paul Ratcliffe said: “We have selected one of the strongest canoe slalom teams we have ever had, on the back of the most competitive selection series I have been involved with.
"Our job now is to go away and prepare this team to deliver their best performances at our home World Championships in September, which is a key milestone for us on the road to Rio.”
London 2012 boxer Natasha Jonas admitted the time felt right as she announced her plans to retire from the sport with immediate effect,.
The 2012 world bronze medallist made history as the first female boxer to represent Great Britain at an Olympic Games at London 2012 when she defeated Quinatta Underwood of the USA in the first women’s bout of the lightweight competition.
She would eventually reach the quarter-final stages, but after taking time away from the sport with injury, the 30-year-old revealed she was unable to commit to making Rio 2016.
“It just felt like the right time to retire,” she said. “Boxing is an extremely tough sport and very few people ever see the training and hard work that goes into it and after doing it for a long time, I just decided that it was time to do something else.
Buoyed by his performances at last year’s World Junior Championships, decathlete David Hall is eyeing up another breakthrough summer.
Hall finished 14th on at the World Juniors in Eugene last year and made sure to carry that form into indoor season, placing fourth in the England Athletics combined events in his first year as a senior.
This summer sees him try and qualify for the European Under-13 Championships although Hall admits Olympic dreams also burn bright.
“It was an amazing experience (at the World Junior Championships). I was very happy to qualify for the championships and every minute of the trip lived up to my expectations,” he told Athletics Weekly.
“The primary goal for this year is to score 7700 points and qualify for the European under-23s and then hopefully, if I make it, I will aim for a top five finish. My future aspirations, like any young athlete, are to represent Great Britain at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics."
© Sportsbeat 2015