British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith (© Getty Images)
British Athletics has today announced a finalised team of 46 athletes for the IAAF World Junior Championships to be held in Eugene, Oregon on 22-27 July.
The team contains many medal prospects, most notably in the form of world youth pole vault champion Harry Coppell, European junior 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, 2011 world youth 200m champion Desiree Henry, sprint hurdler David Omoregie, world youth 400m champion Sabrina Bakare and heptathlete Morgan Lake.
Coppell last weekend smashed his lifetime best with a 5.40m clearance to win in Mannheim, putting him second on this year’s world junior list.
In the same competition last weekend, Asher-Smith broke the British junior 100m record by clocking 11.14, following it with a wind-assisted 11.03. Asher-Smith will contest both the 100m and 200m in Eugene and will be joined in both the 100m and 4x100m by Henry, who has also been in PB form this year.
Omoregie broke the European junior 110m hurdles record with 13.17 earlier this season, only for Wilhem Belocian of France to shave 0.02 off the mark last weekend in Mannheim.
Lake, who earlier this year became the youngest ever winner of the Multistars title in Florence, has been named in the heptathlon, and will head to Eugene with high hopes after withdrawing from the Commonwealth Games to focus on this event.
Full teams have also been named in all four relays, with the women’s 4x100m team in particular looking to get among the medals and potentially break the British junior record set in Rieti last summer. World youth champion Bakare will be a key component of the 4x400m team.
Other medal contenders include 400m hurdler Shona Richards and high jumper Chris Kandu, both ranked second in their events on this year’s world junior lists, as well as world youth 100m silver medallist Ojie Edoburun and world youth 800m bronze medallist Kyle Langford.
On the strength of the team selected, Team Leader and former world junior high jump fourth placer Jo Jennings commented:
“We’re all excited for what is set to be a very special championship,” said team leader Jo Jennings, who finished fourth in the high jump at the 1988 World Junior Championships. “Hayward Field in Eugene is an iconic venue with a lot of history and this will certainly add to the experience.
“The championship will provide a great opportunity for this very talented crop of young athletes to get a taste of what is hopefully on the agenda for them in years to come. It’s a strong team, with plenty of highly ranked athletes, so we look forward to the championships and coming home with some great performances.”
British Athletics for the IAAF
British team for Oregon 2014
Men
100m: Reuben Arthur, Ojie Edoburun
200m: Thomas Somers, Chris Stone
400m: Jack Crosby, Elliot Rutter
800m: Theo Blundell, Kyle Langford
1500m: Shaun Wyllie
110m hurdles: David Omoregie, Khai Riley-La Borde
400m hurdles: Jacob Paul
High Jump: Rory Dwyer, Chris Kandu
Pole Vault: Harry Coppell, Adam Hague
Long Jump: Jacob Fincham-Dukes
Javelin: Freddie Curtis
Hammer: Taylor Campbell
Decathlon: David Hall
4x100m: Arthur, Edoburun, Stone, Roy Ejiakuekwu, Marvin Popoola, Owin Sinclair
4x400m: Rutter, Crosby, Somers, Ben Snaith, Nick Petrou, Jacob Ness
Women
100m: Dina Asher-Smith, Desiree Henry
200m: Asher-Smith, Shannon Hylton
1500m: Bobby Clay, Amy Griffiths
100mH: Yasmin Miller
400m hurdles: Shona Richards, Jessica Turner
3000m steeplechase: Katie Ingle, Amy-Eloise Neale
Heptathlon: Morgan Lake
Hammer: Kimberley Reed
4x100m: Asher-Smith, Henry, Hylton, Cheriece Hylton, Imani Lansiquot, Ama Pipi
4x400m: Sabrina Bakare, Lily Beckford, Loren Bleaken, Nikita Campbell-Smith, Cheriece Hylton, Lavai Nielson
