2 July 2015

European 100m bronze medallist and 4×100 relay gold medallist Ashleigh Nelson (coach: Michael Afilaka) has confirmed she will miss the Sainsbury’s British Championships this weekend with a view to addressing a ‘niggle’ she has been dealing with for years.

Nelson has opted to take a strategic long term view with the aim of achieving full fitness ahead of the crucial calendar over the next two years and beyond. However in doing so, she has had to sacrifice competing for the main part of the summer although hasn’t ruled out racing before the end of the 2015 season.

“In the end it boiled down to whether I was happy to compete this weekend carrying this niggle and not running as fast as I know I can, or sacrificing a huge part of this year to sort it once and for all,” she said.

“Although at present I can perform at a certain level,  I am not satisfied with running mediocre times or below standard performances at this stage of my career  and in line with my continuous development on the World stage. Having said that,  I will miss competing as both an individual athlete and as part of the successful British women’s relay team, but myself, my coach and  my support team have decided that the long term strategy is most sensible with Rio 2016 and London 2017 being my biggest priority.

"I wish the girls and guys good luck for this weekend and the coming weeks and hope the girls can continue their great progression and improvement."