British team announced for 2021 European Indoor Championships with a mix of veteran and youth

Team Britain has been named for the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships happening March 4-7 in Turin, Italy. Forty-one athletes, according to a British Athletics news release, are nominated to compete for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Elliot Giles, Keely Hodgkinson and Tiffany Porter are among the leading names who will compete next month.

The 2018 World Indoor 60m hurdles champion Andrew Pozzi, 2019 European Indoor silver medallist Holly Bradshaw and Marc Scott, are also named.

Scott moved to second on the UK all-time list in the 3000m event. On Saturday, Feb. 20, he ran The Ten meet in California, setting a new personal best in the 10,000m event, clocking a 27:10.41 — a 46-second personal best and the second-fastest British performance all-time behind Mo Farah’s 26:46.57. Farah set the record at the 2011 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, OR.

“I’m pleased to be selecting such a strong Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the European Indoor Championships next month. It has been a challenging time for all athletes and coaches recently, but we have seen some incredible performances,” said Olympic Head Coach Christian Malcolm.

The 800m

Giles broke the British indoor 800m record previously held by Sebastian Coe. The time stood since 1983, from Coe’s 1:44.91 performance from Cosford. The 26-year-old Giles ran a 1:43.63, which is the second-fastest indoor time in history. The performance is the world lead for 2021. The Birmingham native finished third in the 2016 European Championships with a 1:45.54 performance. He ran 39 seconds faster during the 2019 Doha World Championships for a respectable seventh place. Outdoors is typically faster than indoors — he is in top form.

Joining Giles on the start line will be 2019 European Indoor silver medallist, Jamie Webb is now second on the UK all-time indoor 800m list with his time of 1:44.54 set in the same race last week. Guy Learmonth who has improved his indoor PB this season, completes the line-up in the men’s 800m.

Hodgkinson smashed the U20 record in Vienna last month, lowering her best to 1:59.03. The 18-year-old – who is also on the British Athletics Futures Academy Program – also moved to the top of the British U20 all-time standings in the process. Next month, the 2019 European U20 bronze medallist will make her senior debut for GB & NI.

Also on the team are Ellie Baker and Isabelle Boffey.

Field and multisport

“We are awaiting decisions from European Athletics on several field event nominations that we have put forward, so we hope to add several other athletes to the team later this week.”

After clearing her highest bar in nine years in Rouen earlier this month, Holly Bradshaw will be among the favourites for the women’s pole vault. Her 4.85m clearance was just two centimetres shy of her personal best. She claimed silver at the 2019 edition of the championships in Glasgow and won the title in 2013.

Following a lifetime best score of 4557 points in the Pentathlon at the weekend, Holly Mills has been invited to compete in the women’s pentathlon. Her series included personal bests in the shot put (14.03m) and 800m (2:12.07), which contributed to a score which moved her to fifth on the UK all-time list.

Sophie McKinna (Mike Winch) threw an indoor shot put personal best at the European Indoor Selection Trial events in Loughborough at the weekend. The mark of 18.54 metres is a sign of the strong form the Great Yarmouth athlete is currently in.

As per selection policy, due to the limited qualification opportunities as a result of Covid-19, European Athletics (EA) have amended their qualification process to allow the nomination of unqualified field athletes for selection to the Technical Delegates. British Athletics have notified the athletes who have been nominated under this rule and European Athletics will confirm on 25 February whether or not the nominations have been accepted and these will be published soon after.

Malcolm added, “Of course, we are looking to maximise the number of opportunities to win medals, but it is also about providing opportunities for developing athletes as well as established athletes to achieve a GB&NI vest. We have a real mix in the squad with several young athletes demonstrating their potential in really challenging circumstances. I am really looking forward to seeing how the team performs in Torun.”

The Team