Furious British athletes have accused the national federation of “stealing” their chance to compete at next month’s World Championships, with UK Athletics set to rip up their invitations.
At least 19 British athletes will be told they cannot take their place at the sport’s showpiece event despite qualifying through the world rankings. “UK Athletics make us feel like the shittest athletes in the world,” said Lina Nielsen, Britain’s No 2-ranked 400 metres hurdler. “I feel like I am being robbed.”
Nielsen is one of a host of British athletes who will be sent invitations by World Athletics to compete in Budapest next month. The governing body overhauled its qualification system three years ago in an attempt to create a fairer system where half of athletes would qualify for major championships through hitting automatic qualification standards and half through the world rankings.
However, UK Athletics has effectively overruled the global body, deciding to reject any invitation for athletes who have not also reached the required standard.
Nielsen is ranked 27th in the world this year, with 40 places available for her event at the Worlds. She will receive a World Athletics invite to compete based on that world ranking, but UK Athletics is due to reject it because her best time this summer is 0.06 seconds outside the automatic qualification standard.
“I don’t think it should be their decision to make,” she said. “It feels like they are stealing it from me. Who do you think you are to decline it on behalf of the athletes? It doesn’t help the betterment of the sport in our country, which I think is dying anyway.”
Joshua Zeller finished fifth over 110m hurdles at the World Championships on his senior international debut last year, but will see his World Athletics invitation rejected for the same reason. “It just sucks,” he said.
“The whole system was changed because there are meant to be athletes invited on ranking points – that’s how the system is supposed to go. UK Athletics have just said: ‘To hell with that, we are going to do our own thing.’ I do think I’ve been robbed a little bit.
“I was a world finalist last year and this year I’m not even getting the opportunity to go. Every other governing body follows the rules, but UK Athletics just makes up its own rules.”
The heptathlete Jade O’Dowda and discus thrower Jade Lally are Britain’s highest-ranked non-injured athletes set to miss out, respectively placed 17th and 19th in the world. Their omission will mean their places are offered to rivals lower down the rankings.
When World Athletics changed its qualification system, it tightened automatic standards to ensure that a large portion of athletes instead qualify through the world rankings.
Only five British women have ever hit the required shot put mark to automatically qualify, but Amelia Strickler will receive an invite based on her world ranking of 28. It will be rejected, as it was when she was denied the chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
With UK Athletics in significant financial turmoil after posting £1.8m losses for 2021-22, Strickler said she would happily pay her own way to compete in Budapest if given the opportunity. “It’s not about the money – it’s about the prestige of the world stage and representing your country,” she said. “It’s the opportunity for me to try to be the best athlete I can be. If I could accept my own invite then I would just get a hotel there and go. I know I’m good enough to be there.”
UK Athletics’ selection policy makes it clear that the aim for the World Championships is to “optimise medal success and the number of top-eight placings”. The governing body’s chief executive, Jack Buckner, said earlier this year that he wanted selection for global events to be more “ruthless”.
Strickler said she would welcome any effort to take legal action against UK Athletics: “Lawyers could argue this is a blockage of trade. It’s denying athletes sponsorship, bonuses and opportunities.”
The first wave of British athletes selected for the World Championships will be announced on Friday. World Athletics will then send out its world rankings-based invitations at the start of next week.
UK Athletics declined to comment.
