Ennis set for late choice on Olympics hurdles dilemma

The 26-year-old former world and European multi-event champion from Sheffield was named as one of 71 athletes to represent Great Britain in the high-profile track and field team at London 2012.

Her status as the country’s leading representative in the heptathlon was never in question but as the winner of the 100m hurdles at the recent trials in Birmingham, Ennis has by right earned selection to compete in that event as well.

Her long-held view is that she would only compete in her favoured event, the heptathlon, which runs for two full days over Friday, August 3, and Saturday, August 4.

The heats of the 100m hurdles begin on the morning of Monday, August 6, around 36 hours after she hopes to be crowned as Olympic heptathlon champion. The final is the following night.

Ennis has until the day before the competition to confirm whether she will participate, giving her ample opportunity either to ride the crest of a wave and go for a second gold medal, or swiftly put behind her the earlier disappointment.

Her form in the 100m hurdles this year, when she has been dominant in indoor, outdoor and heptathlon competition could sway her to go for a second gold.

Leaving a final decision until the last minute is the likely outcome, as she hinted yesterday: “I am really excited to have made my first Olympic team and can’t wait to compete in London on August 3 and 4 in front of a home crowd.

“I have been training really hard, feel in great shape and am looking forward to competing. I know the atmosphere will be amazing.”

The squad announcement yesterday was a mixture of good news and surprises, with even the naming of former drugs cheats Dwain Chambers and Carl Myerscough being overshadowed by the inclusion of Scotland’s Lynsey Sharp, whose selection for the 800m caused the most controversy.

Sharp, 21, won the trials and claimed silver in the European Championships in Helsinki last weekend, but did not have the Olympic ‘A’ standard time, unlike Marilyn Okoro, Jenny Meadows, Jemma Simpson and Emma Jackson.

That meant picking Sharp would preclude selecting anyone else, as athletes with the ‘B’ standard can only be selected if no one with the ‘A’ is chosen, but that was exactly what happened after two hours of debate amid Monday’s six-hour selection meeting.

And UK athletics coach Charles van Commenee said the four omitted had only themselves to blame.

“This was difficult because not one of the athletes took control of their own destiny,” said van Commenee

“They made it difficult by not doing what they were supposed to do. It was decided that most important was to have the right performance at the right time. Lynsey Sharp has done very good business recently, beating everyone at the trials, did very well at the Euros, beating athletes who have run 1:57, 1:58, 1:59, beating Jemma Simpson on both occasions.”

Okoro and Jackson could have sealed their places by finishing first or second at the trials but were fifth and seventh – Jackson having suffered a rib injury and Okoro running a terrible tactical race – while Meadows has not competed all season due to injury. Meadows said in Helsinki last week – where her inability to compete after her injury flared up on the flight was deemed “a very important factor” by van Commenee – that she would appeal, but has since had a change of heart.

In contrast, Okoro told van Commenee she would quit the sport, despite being named in the 4x400m relay squad.

Any appeal by the aggrieved athletes would have to be lodged today and then heard within 48 hours. The appeals panel consists of UKA chairman Ed Warner, UKA president Lynn Davies and an independent barrister.

As well as Ennis, there were five other Yorkshire athletes named.

Middlesbrough long-jumper Chris Tomlinson, Hull hammer thrower Alex Smith, Middlesbrough’s Commonwealth champion race walker Johanna Jackson and Leeds Met student Laura Weightman in the 1,500m have all made the grade.

Making up the White Rose sextet is York’s Richard Buck, 25, who lost his funding last year and had to take work stacking supermarket shelves to fund his competitions around the world.

“It’s been a bit of a trek to get here, but nothing worth doing is ever easy,” he said.

“It’s brilliant to have all the hard work recognised. The Olympics is an incredibly special occasion. It’s the pinnacle of a career.

“All the hard hours at Tesco and on the track go towards this. I just need to make sure Tesco give me the time off for the Olympics.”

Buck earned selection for the 4x400m team by helping them win a silver in the European Championships in Helsinki at the weekend. He also finished fifth in the individual race.

“To come straight out of the trials and to be running three days later was a big ask, physically and mentally,” he said.

“But it was important for me to deliver, no matter how pressured, stressed and fatigued I was.”

There was disappointment though for the Wakefield trio of high-jumper Martyn Bernard, sprinter Emily Freeman and 1,500m runner Charlene Thomas, as well as Cleckheaton hammer thrower Sarah Holt and Sheffield steeplechase runner Hatti Archer, who were all overlooked.