LYNSEY SHARP concedes she remains a reluctant convert to the attractions of running indoors but she has trodden the boards of late with a certain panache. And after capturing the Scottish 800m record last month, the former European champion has been told to perform without limits at the forthcoming world indoor championships in Portland following her inclusion in the British squad.
The 25-year-old required a modicum of convincing to throw her name into the hat, joining fellow Scots Chris O’Hare, Steph Twell and Jo Moultrie in a 23-strong team. Sharp’s coach Terrence Mahon, however, believes it is a value opportunity. And although her focus remains on this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio, it may be a venture that pays multiple dividends.
“She wanted more high-standard competition,” UK Athletics performance director Neil Black said. “She wanted to learn and gain from the indoor environment to look at the tactical and technical elements associated with it.”
Ranked fifth following her personal best of 2:00.30 in Boston, a place on the podium for either Sharp or trials winner Adelle Tracey is not out of reach. “Lynsey’s a serious contender for medals at the world indoors and obviously for Rio,” he affirmed.
With Richard Kilty rejecting an invite to defend his 60m title, Black will trust that Olympic champion Greg Rutherford reports for duty in Portland following late withdrawals from the trials and the recent Glasgow Grand Prix. In London 2012 high jump bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz and sprinter James Dasaolu and Dina Asher-Smith, there are other solid medal prospects.
Portland will be the first championships where the athletes chosen will asked to sign a contract that stipulates they will render themselves ineligible for international selection if they are subsequently handed bans of over two years for any future doping offence. Although a number of competitors sought clarification over the clause from UKA officials during recent talks in Glasgow, dissent is not expected.
“In a way, the ideas actually come from athletes so we are thinking they are going to be generally supportive of the whole concept,” Black confirmed. The move -designed to end the charade of those abusing drugs later returning to the fray – is unlikely to be enforced for the Olympic or Paralympic Games, he acknowledged. “It’s up to the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association to interpret the arrangements. We can't influence that unnecessarily.”
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