18 July 2016 

Imani Lansiquot (coach: Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) and Josh Kerr (Joe Franklin) will captain the British Athletics team at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz starting tomorrow, 19 July.

Sutton and District athlete, Lansiquot, is currently ranked sixth in the world for 100m under 20s with 11.25, a time she posted at the England Athletics U20 Championships in Bedford last month.  This also placed her fourth in the UK all-time junior list. 

On being asked to captain the team, Lansiquot said: “I was very shocked but really, really grateful to be asked.  I think we have a really strong team here in Bydgoszcz; everyone is extremely talented so to captain the team is a real honour.

“I am super excited for my own event.  The nerves haven’t kicked in yet so I am remaining focused and looking forward to getting started in two days’ time.

“My main message to the team is that these Champs are an incredible opportunity.  My last World Juniors was a huge stepping stone to where I am right now.  It opened a lot of doors for me.  Mentally, I really believed in myself after those Championships.”

European Junior Champion in the 1500m, Kerr from Edinburgh AC is currently studying and training at New Mexico University.  He comes into the Championships hoping to build on his personal best of 3:41.08 achieved in June at the NCAA championships in Oregon, USA.

Kerr said: “We have so many experienced guys and girls in this team that I am very honoured and excited to be asked to be captain. 

“I had a good transition to the track over in America and hit the standard in my first race taking the pressure off a wee bit.  I am ranked highly enough to think I have a chance.  I am one of the first off with my heat tomorrow and I am looking forward to getting the team off to a good start. 

“It will be great to have as many of the team down to support others because we have a big team and we can help one another. As we all know and have seen many times success breeds success.  Watching others do well makes us all strive to do even better.”

The IAAF World Junior Championships run from 19 to 24 July. 

You can follow all the action via the IAAF:

http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/world-u20-bydgoszcz-2016-online-coverage  and via British Athletics twitter @BritAthletics

Full British Athletics team for the World Junior Championships

Men

100m: Rechmial Miller (Ryan Freckleton), Oliver Bromby (Sara MacDonald-Gray)

200m:   Ryan Gorman (Karen Buck), Cameron Tindle (Henry Gray)

400m: Cameron Chalmers (Daniel Cossins)

800m: Daniel Rowden (Richard Thurston), Spencer Thomas (Jon Bigg)

1500m: Josh Kerr (Joe Franklin), Archie Davis (Joel Kidger)

5000m: Alex Yee (Kenneth Pike)

110m Hurdles: Matthew Treston (Adrian Brown),James Weaver (Laura Turner-Alleyne)

10000m Race Walk: Cameron Corbishley (Andi Drake), Callum Wilkinson (Mick Graham)

High Jump: Rory Dwyer (Fuzz Caan), Tom Gale (Denis Doyle)

Long Jump: Alex Farquharson (Andy Vincent), Patrick Sylla (Zac Kerin)

Pole Vault:  Adam Hague (Trevor Fox), Charlie Myers (Chris Boundy)

Discus:  George Evans (Colin McCulloch), George Armstrong (Michael Swain)

Javelin:  Harry Hughes (Mike McNeill), James Whiteaker

4 x 100m Relay: Rechmial Miller (Ryan Freckleton), Oliver Bromby (Sara MacDonald-Gray), Ryan Gorman (Karen Buck), Cameron Tindle (Henry Gray), Gerald Matthew (Jane Dixon), Zanson Plummer (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo)

Women

100m: Imani Lansiquot (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo), Hannah Brier (Neal Merry)

200m: Finette Agyapong (Coral Nourrice), Charlotte McLennaghan (David Hourd)

400m: Hannah Williams (Colin Gaynor), Lily Beckford (Linford Christie)

1500m: Bobby Clay (Rob Denmark), Harriet Knowles-Jones (Paul Roden)

100m Hurdles: Alicia Barrett (Toni Minichiello), Mollie Courtney (David Warner)

400m Hurdles: Chelsea Walker (Rick Betts)

3000m Steeplechase: Aimee Pratt (Vicente Modahl)

4 x 100m Relay: Imani Lansiquot (Jonas Tawiah- Dodoo), Hannah Brier (Neal Merry), Finette Agyapong (Coral Nourrice), Charlotte McLennaghan (David Hourd), Megan Marrs (Tom Reynolds), Sophie Yorke (David Warner)