Van Commenee reflects

Charles van Commenee: Reflects on the British performances

Charles van Commenee, UK Athletics head coach, admitted many British athletes at the European Championships will not represent their country again at such a level after "flat" performances in Helsinki.

Two silver medals on the final night of competition, in the men's 4x400m and for Jo Pavey in the 10,000m, meant Britain finished with a total of seven medals - three gold, three silver and one bronze - in comparison to the record 19 achieved in Barcelona two years ago.

However, Van Commenee knew that would be the case with most star names missing after securing their Olympic places at the trials last weekend, with selection standards also relaxed.

Standards

Van Commenee said: "There are a lot of athletes here who have never made it to a championship and who will never make it to a championship again.

"I adopted the lowest possible standards just to make sure if we had strong athletes who, for whatever reason, were not able to produce it in the first half of the season, they could still make it here to do it.

"If I had the standard high a lot of opportunities may not have been given to athletes who needed it.

"This championship does not fit in the philosophy, that has to do with timing and the home Olympic Games and I got confirmation of what I expected - it was flat, but it was the best thing to do given the calendar of this year.

"It was too much to do rounds at the weekend (at the trials) and again five or six days later. I'm relatively happy that we return home with our best athletes undamaged."

"There are a lot of athletes here who have never made it to a championship and who will never make it to a championship again. "
Van Commenee Quotes of the week

Van Commenee was on Monday returning from Helsinki to finalise Britain's Olympic team via a selection meeting at Heathrow - the women's 800m providing by far the biggest headache.

Decisions

There are five athletes in contention for the three available places, with Marilyn Okoro, Emma Jackson, Jemma Simpson, Jenny Meadows and Lynsey Sharp all hoping to be selected when the team is nominated on Tuesday.

Sharp is certainly in the best form after her victory in the trials and silver medal in Helsinki, however by having only a 'B' qualifying standard, the Scot can only be chosen if no athlete with an 'A' standard is selected.

Van Commenee added: "I think without any doubt 800m women will take most time to come to a decision.

"There are many variables there. I'm not particularly looking forward to this one."

Gamble

The men's 4x100m relay team will also not be looking forward to a dressing down from Van Commenee following their latest failure in Helsinki, with Dwain Chambers and Christian Malcolm - called "fossils" by Van Commenee due to their vast experience - failing to exchange the baton after the first leg of the final.

Malcolm, after accepting responsibility for the error, said: "No doubt we'll get slaughtered in the press for it but it's not for want of trying."

Pavey only returned to track action after her Olympic marathon gamble backfired in April, when the 38-year-old opted to miss the London Marathon and hope that her time from last year's race was enough to claim the last available place alongside Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi.

She watched on TV as both Claire Hallissey and Freya Murray eclipsed her time, with Hallissey subsequently selected, yet she said: "It's been a real blessing in disguise.

"I would have taken a marathon place if I was given it because it would have been a massive gamble not to accept it."

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