UK Athletics want to select smaller teams for global championships but their policy flies in the face of popular opinion

About 20 years ago I knew an ambitious British runner whose main goal was to run in the World Cross Country Championships. He realised the ceiling of his talent was to squeeze into the squad and after years of gruelling training he eventually managed it in his early 30s by qualifying for a couple of global events.

Ultimately he finished outside the top 60 and several minutes behind the winner, but he achieved his dream and is now able to tell his grandchildren that he ran for Great Britain at the World Cross. As my friend and many other proud international athletes over the years will agree, these championships are not all about winning medals.

The problem is, the medals mentality is dominating UK Athletics selection strategy right now. Jack Buckner, the governing bodys new chief executive, said recently: There will be a bit of a shift in our selection philosophy which is going to be quite hard in some ways. We will be moving towards a philosophy more about performance. It will have a slightly sharper edge. You need to really focus on the big hitters. We could have a list of six to 10 names and we need to be all over them. We need to identify where the medals are coming from and have the right resources in place.

Buckner has made a positive start to his role at UKA but in this case he appears to have misjudged the mood of the people. An AW poll this week asked if UKA should send smaller elite teams of probable finalists and potential medallists to global championships? Or should they field as big a squad as possible to maximise development opportunities? At last count 71.8% want squads that are as big as possible with only 3.3% preferring small select squads and 24.9% choosing somewhere in between.

Athletes and fans have gone further than a mere click of the keyboard to vote too. Some have taken to social media to voice their concern. Established GB internationals claim the policy is driven by UKAs cash-strapped position although the governing body denies this whereas others have made jibes about the number of support staff soon out-numbering the actual competitors.

Katharine Merry went to the 1993 World Championships as a teenager before going on to win Olympic 400m bronze in Sydney seven years later. She says she would not qualify for that World Champs with the current selection policy and adds: Not every athlete can be a medallist or top eight at a Champs, but all deserve to showcase their best on the biggest stage they can. This is why athletes train. To be the best they can be and reach the highest possible level with their talent.

What would Mo Farah have achieved during his 2011-2017 heyday if he hadnt endured the stinging experience of being knocked out of the 5000m heats at the 2008 Olympics?

Katarina Johnson-Thompson finished 14^th in the Olympic heptathlon a long way behind winner Jess Ennis in London in 2012 but the experience put her in good stead to win a world title seven years later in Doha.

At the same home Games, meanwhile, a young runner called Eilish McColgan finished a distant ninth in her 3000m steeplechase heat but look what shes gone on to achieve. There are plenty more examples like this too.

What is exasperating about UKAs selection stance is that it see-saws from one extreme to another. Less than two years ago, for example, Buckners predecessor Jo Coates unleashed a plan entitled age of the athlete where one of the targets was to have athletes representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland in every single track and field event at major championships by 2032. This ambitious but very worthy goal was not original either as UKA proposed the same idea at the turn of the millennium.

It is also only six years since UKA launched a campaign with the hashtag #represent which was devised by a creative agency probably at considerable cost and primarily promoted the beauty and honour of competing for your country.

In the run-up to London 2012, however, the GB team adopted a tougher selection strategy similar to the one Buckner is now suggesting will happen on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympics. Charles van Commenee, the GB head coach at the time, famously said that nobody is going to jump higher by lowering the bar.

Van Commenee added: When you raise the standards, you will have a more successful team and success breeds success. When you are in a championship and in the first two days youve got a dozen going out in the first round then that doesnt set the right tone for the rest of the team and for the people watching us.

With reference to under-performing championship tourists, he continued: I think at major championships you shouldnt fail, so I dont want to send people with a high probability of failure.

There is definitely some logic in that approach and it is important to add that UKAs strict selection strategies only apply to global championships. Events like the Commonwealth Games, age-group championships and of course this months European Indoor Championships are always regarded as development opportunities for up-and-coming athletes.

Since the days of Van Commenee, the selection strategy now appears to be coming around in full circle and looks set to be repeated. Is it what athletes and fans want, though? Clearly not.

Surely UKA is underestimating the sheer achievement of making a national team for a major championship. If ever you need to be reminded of this, just remember the scenes of joy and emotion two years ago when Chris Thompson won the Olympic marathon trials in Kew Gardens.

Thommo probably realised he would not win Olympic medal in Japan. Making the top 10 would be a long shot and he ultimately finished first Brit home in 39th. But, really, who cares?

What mattered is that he earned the right to stand on the same start line as Eliud Kipchoge at the greatest show on earth and is part of an exclusive club of super-athletes who go by the name of Olympian.

Inverness and Southampton athletes lead the British Athletics Cross Challenge senior standings going into Saturdays series final and UK Inter-Counties at Prestwold Hall

This weekends UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships is not an official trial this winter due to the early staging of the World Cross in Bathurst last month, but it is still the de facto British championships for cross-country and is the final event in a British Athletics Cross Challenge series that began in Cardiff in October.

Megan Keith and Mahamed Mahamed lead the Cross Challenge senior standings with a traditional 30,000 at stake in prizes across the 10 races.

Mahameds brother, Zak, is also in the running for the Cross Challenge title although Emile Cairess, who is No.2 in the standings, is unlikely to run due to his London Marathon preparations.

First staged at Prestwold Hall near Loughborough in 2017, the event returns to the rolling fields of the estate with runners keeping a close eye on the weather this week as the venue has a history of becoming extremely muddy after heavy rain.

The event is due to be streamed via the UK Athletics website but keep an eye on the AW website and social media channels for news, photos and leading results.

British Athletics Cross Challenge standings

Senior women

1 Megan Keith Inverness Harriers AAC  108
2 Jessica Gibbon Reading AC 106
3 Grace Carson Mid Ulster AC 100
4 Alexandra Millard Invicta East Kent AC 99
5 Amy-Eloise Markovc Wakefield District Harriers & AC 98
6 Niamh Bridson Hubbard Blackheath & Bromley H AC 96
7 Charlotte Dannatt Camberley & District AC 95
8 Cari Hughes Cardiff AAC 95
9 Jennifer Walsh Leeds City AC 93
10 Alice Goodall Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds 92

Under-20 women

1 Megan Harris Chelmsford AC 61
2 Alice Bates Kettering Town Harriers 59
3 Libby Huxley Preston Harriers 56
4 Kiya Dee Cheltenham & County Harriers 54
5 Moli Lyons Cardiff Athletics 40
6 Emilia Platt East Cheshire Harriers & Tameside AC 39
7 Hattie Reynolds City of Norwich AC 39
8 Meredith Reid Inverclyde AC 38
9 Beth Rawlinson Wolverhampton & Bilston 37
10 Jemima Ridley Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow AC 35

Under-17 women

1 Sophie Nicholls Wells City Harriers 59
2 Innes FitzGerald Exeter Harriers 56
3 Zoe Gilbody Wreake & Soar Valley AC 55
4 Beca Haf Bown Menai Track and Field 53
5 Yasmin Kashdan Crawley AC 53
6 Caitlyn Heggie Ross County Athletics Club 50
7 Evey Powell Abingdon AC 45
8 Holly Haldane Reading AC 44
9 Josie Robertson Newbury AC 43
10 Lilia Harris Rotherham Harriers & AC 41

Under-15 girls

1 Millie Gold Cardiff Athletics 59
2 Libby Hale Swansea Harriers Athletics Club 56
3 Isla McGowan Banbury Harriers AC 56
4 Katie Pye Aldershot Farnham & Dist AC 53
5 Bethany Trow Shrewsbury AC 53
6 Holly Cross Liverpool Harriers & AC 52
7 Imogen Wharton Warrington AC 52
8 Zara Redmond Kilbarchan AAC 51
9 Freya Campbell Giffnock North AAC 49
10 Daisy Rowe Exeter Harriers 42

Under-13 girls

1 Penelope Boyle Leven Valley AC 59
2 Bryony Boyce Cardiff Athletics 58
3 Cerys Wright Team East Lothian 55
4 Luan Power Wreake & Soar Valley AC 54
5 Kara Gorman Chiltern Harriers AC 51
6 Ellie Birchall Exeter Harriers 45
7 Erin Burnett Garscube Harriers 43
8 Aimee Harling Blackpool Wyre & Fylde AC 34
9 Isabella Wilson Giffnock North AAC 19
10 Olivia Inglis Law & District AAC 16

Senior men

1 Mahamed Mahamed Southampton Athletic Club 108
2 Emile Cairess Leeds City Athletic Club 106
3 Zakariya Mahamed Southampton Athletic Club 106
4 James Kingston Tonbridge AC 104
5 Hugo Milner Derby AC 102
6 Callum Elson Cambridge & Coleridge AC 101
7 Alex George Birchfield Harriers 101
8 Jack Gray Cambridge & Coleridge AC 94
9 Matthew Stonier Invicta East Kent AC 94
10 David Mullarkey Leeds City AC 89

Under-20 men

1 Edward Bird Poole AC 62
2 Rowan Miell-Ingram Radley AC 58
3 Luke Birdseye South of England 54
4 Ben Brown Southampton Athletic Club 53
5 Sam Hodgson Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow AC 49
6 Matthew Ramsden Blackburn Harriers & AC 48
7 Jack Small Ashford AC 47
8 Jacob Deacon Chorley Athletic and Triathlon Club 45
9 Lewis Hannigan Kilbarchan AAC 45
10 Louis Small Ashford AC 43

Under-17 men

1 Iwan Thomas Carmarthen & District Harriers AC 58
2 Isaac Morris Cambridge & Coleridge AC 56
3 Connor Bell Central AC 55
4 Craig Shennan Giffnock North AAC 55
5 Alex Adams Stratford-upon-Avon AC 53
6 Quinn Miell-Ingram Radley Athletic Club 53
7 William Rabjohns Poole AC 53
8 Benjamin Peck St. Edmunds Pacers  51
9 Hamish McKay Aberdeen AAC 49
10 Finley Bruce Carmarthen & District H AC 47

Under-15 boys

1 Matthew Clark Preston Harriers 58
2 Jon Pepin Southampton AC 56
3 George Wilson Cleethorpes & District AC 55
4 Calum Dick Giffnock North AAC 52
5 Evan Grime Salford Harriers & AC 50
6 Andrew Baird Ross County AC 49
7 Oliver Cresswell Birchfield Harriers 49
8 Luke Culliton Falkirk Victoria Harriers 49
9 Will Birchall Exeter Harriers 45
10 James Alexander Garscube Harriers 44

Under-13 boys

1 Rhuairdh Laing Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC 61
2 Noah Homer Wreake & Sour Valley AC 55
3 Louie Hemmings Peterborough & Nene Valley AC 54
4 Noah Williamson North East Project 48
5 Ethan Scobie Giffnock North AAC 46
6 Adam Foster North Devon AC 42
7 Finlay laskey Giffnock North AAC 36
8 Ben McArthur Garscube Harriers 15
9 Elliott Tyler Garscube Harriers 6

Timetable
11:00am U20 men 8km
11:30am U13 girls 3km
11:45am Senior women 8km
12:35pm U15 boys 4km
12:55pm U17 women 5km
13.15pm U17 men 6km
13:40pm U13 boys 3km
14:00pm U20 women 6km
14:20pm U15 girls 4km
14:45pm Senior men 10km

In-form Brit is set to face Hellen Obiri, Molly Huddle, Senbere Teferi and Karoline Grøvdal in New York next week as Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo lead the mens field

After breaking Paula Radcliffes long-standing British 10,000m record in California last weekend, Eilish McColgans next big race in the run-up to her marathon debut in London is the United Airlines NYC Half on March 19.

She will face Hellen Obiri, the former world cross-country champion and two-time Olympic medallist, plus three-time NYC Half winner Molly Huddle of the United States.

Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia, who holds the course record with 67:35, also runs, in addition to 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden of the US and reigning European cross-country champion Karoline Bjerkeli-Grøvdal of Norway.

McColgans British record is 66:26 from last years RAK Half, but Obiris best is 64:22 from the same RAK Half, Teferi ran 65:32 in Valencia in 2019 and Huddle has a best of 67:41 from 2016.

Obiri and McColgan clashed at the Great North Run in 2021 with the Kenyan breaking away in the latter stages to win by six seconds. But the Briton has been in terrific form lately with a 30:00.86 national record for 10,000m at the Sound Running Ten event in California.

Her marathon debut in London is set to take place on April 23 too.

McColgan is among a number of Brits set to race in New York City too with others being Jess Warner-Judd, Chris Thompson and Andy Butchart. Warner-Judd ran a half-marathon PB of 67:19 in Houston in January and will be looking to revise those figures.

READ MORE: McColgan breaks Radcliffes record

The mens field is headed by world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder Joshua Cheptegei and half-marathon world record-holder and recent world cross-country champion Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda.

American Galen Rupp, Olympic medallist in the 10,000m and marathon, is also set to compete on a day that will see 25,000 runners tackling a course that goes from Brooklyn to Manhattan, passing historic landmarks along the way before ending in Central Park.

The wheelchair race line-ups include Susannah Scaroni, Manuela Schär, Catherine Debrunner, Daniel Romanchuk and Britains JohnBoy Smith.

Three-year ban for man who guided careers of Robbie Grabarz, Isobel Pooley and Morgan Lake after verbally abusing athletes

High jump coach Fuzz Caan has been given a three-year ban following a string of complaints that included verbally abusing his athletes, calling a British Athletics team doctor a f***wit and mocking para athletes.

The 56-year-old has coached many of Britains best high jumpers such as London 2012 silver medallist Robbie Grabarz and former and current UK record-holders Isobel Pooley and Morgan Lake, plus Tom Parsons, Emily Borthwick and Brendan Reilly.

He also had a hand in Germaine Masons Olympic silver medal performance in 2008 and has recently helped some of Britains rising stars like Sam Brereton.

Caans finest moment as a coach was guiding Grabarz to an Olympic podium at a home Games and he once said: I took him from a guy who a lot of people considered to be not very good and a bit of a party athlete to an Olympic medal, winner of the Diamond League, European champion and equalling the British record.

Caan was a 2.21m jumper himself in the 1980s under the name of Fayyaz Ahmed. He has used several names during his life incidentally due to part-time work as an actor which has seen him appear in Coronation Street and Holby City among other television programmes.

Caan, who is married to former high jump international Julie Crane, was the subject of a dozen disciplinary charges and he partly admitted to eight of them, including making fun of disabled people.

Caan admitted he inappropriately swore and used industrial language with athletes and failed to act with dignity and to display courtesy and good manners toward them on several occasions.

There was no actual hearing but the disciplinary panel felt his admission to so many charges rendered this unnecessary.