British Athletics have announced a team of 72 athletes for the 2019 IAAF World Championships, which begin later this month in Doha, Qatar from September 27-October 6.
Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson lead the team into the global gathering following a hugely successful past 12 months for the pair.
Asher-Smith heads to Doha as a triple European champion from 2018 and IAAF Diamond League runner-up this year over 200m while multi-eventer Johnson-Thompson has medalled at every major championships she has attended since the last worlds on home soil in London over two years ago.
Like Asher-Smith, Laura Muir, Zharnel Hughes and Matthew Hudson-Smith all also won individual European gold last summer and earn selection for another World Championships. Hughes will contest the 100m and 200m sprint double alongside Adam Gemili, who claimed the British title in the latter last month, with the pair the first men to do so since Marlon Devonish in Helsinki in 2005.
Gemili will have great memories of the World Championships stage having won 4x100m relay gold in London in 2017 with teammates Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and CJ Ujah forming part of a seven-strong squad along with Richard Kilty.
In total 44 athletes return to the world stage having previously earned selection for London including world indoor champion Andrew Pozzi, European indoor champion Shelayna Oskan-Clarke, race walkers Tom Bosworth and Callum Wilkinson and finalists Lynsey Sharp, Holly Bradshaw, Morgan Lake and Nick Miller, Miller the world No.6 in the hammer in 2019, while a further 24 will make their World Championship debuts for GB & NI in Doha.
Amongst those are European indoor silver medallists Jamie Webb and Tim Duckworth and British champions Ojie Edoburun, Neil Gourley, Harry Coppell and Ben Williams, Williams extending his personal best in the triple jump to 17.27m last month for seventh on the all-time UK list and earning senior selection ten years on from winning the world youth title.
Among the 72 are 12 Scottish athletes with Gourley, Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman occupying all three places in the men’s 1500m, Jemma Reekie stepping up to the world stage having won double European under-23 gold this season and Eilish McColgan, who in addition to the 5000m, is competing in the 10,000m at a global gathering for the first time, an event in which her mother Liz won gold in Tokyo in 1991.
For the second major championships running there are more women (37) selected than men (35) with Cindy Ofili set for her first global outing since finishing an agonising fourth in the 100m hurdles at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Ofili clocked her quickest time since 2016, with a 12.85, in Switzerland on Sunday to guarantee her automatic selection.
With the British team winning an unprecedented medal in each of the four relays in London in 2017, a host of medallists return with 4x100m silver medallists Asha Philip and Daryll Neita running individually in the 100m and in the relay alongside Asher-Smith and fellow European champions Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Ashleigh Nelson as well as Kristal Awuah completing the squad of six.
Similarly, silver medallists from London in the 4x400m Zoey Clark, Laviai Nielsen and Emily Diamond return – with Nielsen and Diamond both running individually in the 400m – with Beth Dobbin and Jodie Williams included – the pair contesting the 200m themselves – as well as Jessica Turner, who doubles up with the 400m hurdles. Amy Allcock and Finette earn their first IAAF World Championships call ups.
In the men’s 4x400m, Martyn Rooney will equal Devonish for the record for the number of World Championship appearances at eight with fellow bronze medallists from London Dwayne Cowan, Rabah Yousif and Hudson-Smith joining him in the squad – Yousif running the individual alongside Hudson-Smith.
Cameron Chalmers is also included while Lee Thompson will make his world debut and Toby Harries is one of three to earn a maiden senior British vest – steeplechase duo Elizabeth Bird and Aimee Pratt completing the trio. The 15 athletes selected across the men’s and women’s 4x400m are also the athletes from which the team for the mixed 4x400m will be selected.
With a first wave of endurance athletes announced back in May, the British team stands at 72. Callum Hawkins will contest the men’s marathon however Dewi Griffiths has unfortunately had to withdraw through injury. Charlotte Purdue and Tish Jones run the women’s marathon and Cameron Corbishley and Dominic King go in the men’s 50km race walk.
Any invites for the IAAF World Championships 2019 in Doha will be considered in line with the British Athletics selection policy. Given the timelines outlined by the IAAF as to when these invites will be received, appeals will not be considered.
British Athletics Performance Director Neil Black said: “It gives me great pleasure to name the 72 athletes selected to compete for Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, starting later this month. Given the standard of performances from British athletes this season, and the strength in depth we possess in several events, finalising the team was far from easy and there were some tough decisions to make.
“In the 72 athletes, I truly believe we have selected the strongest team possible to compete for medals on the global stage. The team is full of world-class athletes who over the past two years since we were hosts in London have proven that they belong on the global stage.
“It is great to see so many athletes return having competed in London and also see so many make the step up to the world level for the first time. We have selected more women than men once again for a major championships and special mention needs to go to Martyn Rooney, who is competing at his eighth World Championships, a truly remarkable feat for a great athlete.
“The Championships are going to be held in a challenging climate at the end of what has been a long season already but what pleases me the most is how our athletes and their coaches have approached the challenge and are ensuring that they peak when it matters most. The next three and a half weeks are key in preparing for the Championships and I look forward to watching our athletes flourish in Doha.”
