Katarina Johnson-Thompson will step up her preparations for the Paris Olympics subsequent week when she goes for European glory in Rome.
The world heptathlon champion, 31, has been named in Nice Britain’s star-studded 72-strong squad for the European Championships, which begin on Friday week.
With two months to go till the Olympics, will probably be Johnson-Thompson’s first heptathlon since successful world gold in Budapest final August – and he or she will probably be trying to declare her maiden European crown.
‘She is in actually fine condition, bodily and emotionally,’ mentioned GB head coach Paula Dunn. ‘She has been capable of keep harm free and her confidence is excessive.
‘She is wanting ahead to going out and competing in Rome and placing down a critical efficiency. I’m excited to see what she will be able to do.’
Katarina Johnson-Thompson has been named in Group GB’s European Championships squad
Keely Hodgkinson can also be heading to Rome with Nice Britain to defend her 800metres title
Keely Hodgkinson will even be in Rome to defend her 800metres title, recent from successful final weekend’s Diamond League occasion in Eugene with the quickest time on this planet this 12 months after an injury-hit winter.
‘She has had a tremendous restoration,’ mentioned Dunn. ‘What she did on the weekend was scarily good for her first race out.’
Dina Asher-Smith will compete within the girls’s 100m, which she gained in Berlin in 2018, whereas Zharnel Hughes will probably be within the males’s occasion, trying to avenge his defeat to Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs in 2022.
Eilish McColgan will function in a serious championships for the primary time since successful 10,000m silver in Munich two years in the past. The Scot raced for the primary time in 420 days final Sunday, successful the Vienna 5k, following a 12 months of harm points.
Matthew Hudson-Smith, the world and Olympic 400m medallist, will defend his European crown, whereas within the girls’s pole vault, world indoor champion Molly Caudery will probably be up towards her team-mate Holly Bradshaw, the Olympic bronze medallist.
World 1500m champion Josh Kerr is the largest title lacking from the British squad, having opted to totally give attention to the Olympics.
‘Josh was by no means going to do the Europeans,’ mentioned Dunn. ‘He’s sticking to what works greatest for him and with an athlete of that calibre, you need to ensure that he has the perfect preparations coming into Paris.
Dina Asher-Smith will compete within the girls’s 100m, the occasion she gained in Berlin six years in the past
Nice Britain’s head coach Paula Dunn mentioned Johnson-Thompson was in ‘actually fine condition’
CJ Ujah, whose failed medicine take a look at noticed GB stripped of a silver medal within the 4x100m relay on the Tokyo Olympics, rejected a spot within the relay squad to prioritise his particular person type forward of subsequent month’s Olympic trials.
Phoebe Gill, the 17-year-old 800m sensation who has damaged by way of this summer time, additionally turned down the possibility to go to Rome to give attention to her college exams. She may, although, nonetheless make the squad for the Olympics if she performs at trials.
‘She is the actual deal,’ added Dunn. ‘She could be very younger, supremely gifted and we simply want to guard her. ‘She has the Olympic qualification time, together with different athletes, so it’s actually how she performs at trials after which sitting down along with her household and making the correct determination for Phoebe.’
