James Foad admits there is no way he can be fit to add to his Olympic medal tally this summer, while Jenny Meadows reveals she is determined to go out with a bang in Rio. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Olympic bronze medallist James Foad has reluctantly had to concede defeat on the Road to Rio due to injury – although the rower admits he is unsure whether it spells the end of his international career. The 28-year-old had surgery to fit flexible metal rods into his spine after he won bronze in the men's eight at London 2012.
But while continuing to perform at the highest level since then, including winning European Championship men's pair gold with Matt Langridge in May, Foad has been dealt a cruel blow after learning the metal screws in his back had come loose. He will have surgery on Monday to replace them with the four-time World silver medallist revealing in his blog that his hopes of trying to make the team for Rio had now been extinguished. “As much as I want to try and push through it and hope everything will be ok, it won't,” he wrote. “I'm sad to say my 'Road to Rio' has come to an end. I'll never make it in time. “The thought of this year being a write-off and not being able to at least try and complete my goal of competing at the Olympics again is heartbreaking. “As for the future, I'm not really sure what the plan is now. I had planned to retire after Rio, but the whole situation has thrown a spanner in the works. “At the minute, it doesn't feel satisfying walking away from it like this, but I'll have to see how things go after surgery.”
Double World Champion James Guy will lead the British contingent as they undertake their first overseas event of the Olympic year when they travel to Antwerp for the Flanders Cup next week.
A squad of 34 British athletes will continue their preparations towards the British Championships in April where qualification to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games can be earned.
The mixture of senior and juniors swimmers will take part in the Flanders Cup as they get the 2016 season up and running on January 23-24.
“The Flanders meet provides another strong opportunity as part of an important overall race strategy for our swimmers,” said British Swimming National Performance Director Chris Spice.
“These events allow us to practice our identified process goals that are important for progression this season.
“For the vast majority of the squad this will be their first hit out of the year while they’re very much still in the middle of a big block of training as they prepare to meet the goals that have been set for 2016.”
At the age of seven, when Jenny Meadows was still an aspiring runner, she turned to her coach and declared that she wanted to compete at an Olympic Games.
It’s been eight years since the now-veteran 800m runner ticked that goal off her bucket list in Beijing but that appearance is far-from the full picture of her storied career.
Now 34, Meadows plans to hang up her spikes after Rio 2016 and, if she has it her way, she will do so following the biggest race of her life.
“I dream of medals but just making that Olympic final would be amazing,” she said. “You hear the iconic voices on the TV over the years and it really makes the hairs on your arms stand up.
“So I am desperate to be in that Olympic final and every training session between now and then is important.
“When I was younger said I wanted to go to the Olympics but once you get older you realise the significance a little bit.
“When you’re young you dream of medals you just think about the process but now I realise that representing Great Britain is an amazing experience in itself.” See more here.
European Games gold medallist Joe Joyce leads the line for Great Britain after 30 boxers were named for The British Lionhearts team for the 2016 season.
The Lionhearts are in Group B of the World Series of Boxing along with Morocco Atlas Lions, Mexico Guerreros and USA Knockouts – with their first clash coming against the latter on January 21.
Joyce is one of three Super-heavyweight fighters selected along with Frazer Clarke and Petar Belberov – one of eight overseas selections.
The 30-strong team includes all six of Britain’s European Championship medallists from 2015 with Joe Cordina, Harvey Horn, Muhammad Ali, Qais Ashfaq, Pat McCormack and Joshua Buatsi also selected.
World Championship bronze medallist and Commonwealth champion Anthony Fowler also makes the cut in the middleweight division – with the fighters who appear twice across 2015 and 2016 eligible for selection for the WSB Olympic qualifying event in Sofia in May.
“Competing in WSB is one of the qualification routes for Rio so this is a very important part of the GB Boxing squad's programme for 2016,” said Rob McCracken, GB Boxing’s performance director and head coach.
“The format is slightly different to traditional Olympic-style boxing, however this is our third season in WSB, so we have more experience of the tournament which will provide valuable competition opportunities for the boxers as we move into the business end of the Olympic cycle.” See more here.