10 June 2008

Middle-distance runners Andy Baddeley (Harrow AC) and Tom Lancashire (Bolton Harriers) have both been rewarded for their victories in last weekend’s Bislett Games with selection for the Norwich Union GB & NI Team for this month’s SPAR European Cup in Annecy, France.

25-year-old Baddeley, who won the Dream Mile in Oslo on Friday with a stunning performance has had his wish of racing over 3000m at the European Cup granted by the UK Athletics selection committee. Lancashire, 22, who won the 1500m at the same meeting, will be racing over the same distance again as he makes his Cup debut.

IAAF World Championships 400m gold and silver medallists Christine Ohuruogu (Newham & Essex)and Nicola Sanders (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) have both been selected in the women’s team.

Ohuruogu will compete in the 200m, a distance in which she set a stunning new PB of 22.94 (-0.5m/s) in Oslo, whilst Sanders will open her season over the one-lap distance. Another medallist from last year’s World Championships in Osaka, heptathlete Kelly Sotherton (Birchfield Harriers) is also in the team, being selected for the 4x400m.

Dave Collins, UK Athletics Performance Manager said: “In an Olympic year, the European Cup is obviously not top of our priority list, but it is still an important competition. We have selected the strongest team available to us and I expect many of our athletes to use this opportunity as part of their build up towards Beijing.

“There were several difficult decisions to make during the selection process and that is a reflection of some of the depth of quality now emerging in some events.”

MEN

100m: Tyrone Edgar (Newham & Essex); 200m: Marlon Devonish (Coventry Godiva); 400m: Martyn Rooney (Croydon); 800m: Michael Rimmer (Liverpool, Pembroke & Sefton Harriers); 1500m: Tom Lancashire (Bolton Harriers); 3000m: Andy Baddeley (Harrow AC); 5000m: Mo Farah (Newham & Essex); 3000m steeplechase: Andrew Lemoncello (Fife AC); 110m H: Andy Turner (Sale Harriers Manchester); 400m H: Dale Garland (Channel Islands AC); High Jump: Samson Oni (Belgrave Harriers); Pole Vault: Steve Lewis (Newham & Essex); Long Jump: Chris Tomlinson (Newham & Essex); Triple Jump: Phillips Idowu (Belgrave Harriers); Shot: Mark Edwards (Birchfield Harriers); Discus: Emeka Udechuku (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies); Hammer: Mike Floyd (Sale Harriers Manchester); Javelin: Michael Allen (Trafford AC); 4x100m: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Sutton & District), Devonish, Edgar, Rikki Fifton (Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets), Christian Malcolm (Cardiff AAC), Craig Pickering (Marshall Milton Keynes); 4x400m: Tim Benjamin (Cardiff AAC), Richard Buck (City of York), Rooney, Andrew Steele (Trafford AC), Rob Tobin (Basingstoke & Mid Hants), Conrad Williams (Kent AC)

WOMEN

100m: Emma Ania (Shaftesbury Barnet); 200m: Christine Ohuruogu (Newham & Essex); 400m: Nicola Sanders (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow); 800m: Jenny Meadows (Wigan & District Harriers); 1500m: Susan Scott (City of Glasgow). 3000m: Helen Clitheroe (Preston Harriers); 5000m: Jo Pavey (Exeter Harriers); 3000m sc: Barbara Parker (City of Norwich); 100m H: Sarah Claxton (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies); 400m H: Tasha Danvers (Shaftesbury Barnet); High Jump: Susan Moncrieff (Trafford AC); Pole Vault: Louise Butterworth (Birchfield Harriers); Long Jump: Jade Johnson (Herne Hill); Triple Jump: Noni Mordi (Shaftesbury Barnet); Shot: Rebecca Peake (Sale Harriers Manchester); Discus: Philippa Roles (Swansea Harriers); Javelin: Goldie Sayers (Belgrave Harriers); Hammer: Zoe Derham (Birchfield Harriers): 4x100m: Ania, Montell Douglas (Blackheath & Bromley), Emily Freeman (Wakefield Harriers), Jeanette Kwayke (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies) Anyika Onuora (Liverpool Harriers), Kadi-Ann Thomas (Marshall Milton Keynes AC);  4x400m: Vicki Barr (Rugby & Northampton), Lee McConnell (Shaftesbury Barnet), Meadows, Ohuruogu, Marilyn Okoro (Shaftesbury Barnet), Kelly Sotherton (Birchfield Harriers),