Teesside-based Rabah Yousif will hope to repeat his performance from last year’s World Championships, when he made the final, when he competes in the men’s 400m, while Stockton’s Richard Kilty has made the 4x100m relay squad but missed out on an individual sprinting spot.
Advertisement
Rutherford, who now holds the four major long jump titles, retained his European Championship crown on Friday in Amsterdam, and was confirmed in the Olympic squad on Wednesday.
British athletes have enjoyed a successful 12 months in the build-up to Rio 2016 with the team winning seven medals at the Beijing 2015 World Championships.
In early July, the Brazilian Minister of Justice, Alexandre Moraes, said a jihadist attack in Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics was a “possibility” but “not a probability”. Andy Vernon was selected as the third 10,000m runner despite withdrawing from the European Championships through injury.
Renta Picao, a professor from the federal university of Rio, who led one of the studies, said that although the samples were collected a few years ago, she feels the contamination levels have not changed, primarily because sewage is still being dumped in the bay.
“There’s a real blend of experience and exciting new talent, with the likes of Olympic gold medallists Mo, Jess, Greg and Christine, selected alongside those becoming Olympians for the first time, like Dina Asher-Smith, Chris Baker, Jazmin Sawyers and Elliot Giles”.
Advertisement
Reigning Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill believes that successfully defending her title in Rio this summer would be one of her “greatest achievements”. There’s still some time left before Rio to put some work in as well.#.
