MARTYN ROONEY has defended the latest influx of so-called Plastic Brits into athletics, claiming the extra competition will keep home-grown stars on their toes.
The 28-year-old, who won European 400 metres gold in Zurich last summer, starts the defence of his British title when the UK Championships begin in Birmingham tonight.
The three-day meeting will feature a number of new faces, including the US-born hurdler Cindy Ofili and the Anguillan-raised sprinter Zharnel Hughes, who will be competing domestically for the first time since declaring allegiance to the UK.
Yet even with the foreign-born Michael Bingham and Rabah Yousif threatening to deny Rooney a place in Beijing next month, the Englishman supports their inclusion.
"It's going to help my event," he said. "Michael and Rabah have made it better. You have to be positive about it. As long as they contribute to British sport in some way that's the most important thing. We should support them no matter what their accent is.
"Look at the success of Mo Farah, Shara Proctor and Tiffany Porter who have won medals for us. We're very lucky to have them come to compete for us."
Rooney has been forced to contend in recent months with the disruption caused by the messy departure of his coach Rana Reider from UK Athletics. However, he is confident he can regroup and chase the Olympic medal he covets in 2016 despite challenges from the in-form Jarryd Dunn and the European silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith.
"Unfortunately I didn't get to race much early," he said. "But credit to the guys that have run well. My coach having to move abroad was always going to be tough. I'm trying to find the right rhythm again."
Meanwhile, the scottishathletics director of coaching Rodger Harkins wants his leading lights to claim places at the World Championships by coming up trumps in Birmingham.
With the likes of Guy Learmonth and Chris O'Hare falling well off the pace this summer, only three Scots have so far secured the qualifying standard.
However, Harkins insists others can step up. He said: "There are never any guarantees of success in athletics but we do have a number of people who are ranked highly in Britain at the moment and who have been showing good form.
"Hopefully they can deliver over the weekend. Sometimes there's nothing quite like the edge of a UK Championships to bring out the best in someone."
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