Chalmers among those to miss out
CAM CHALMERS and his male Great Britain 4x400m relay teammates will have to make do next season without the financial support they have previously received via the World Class Programme.
In previous years, GB’s top male 4x400m runners have received direct lottery funding as part of a relay provision on British Athletics’ ‘WCP’, which annually supports a large number of athletes deemed to have Olympic podium potential.
But the latest WCP listing does not include a single male 400m runner at either relay or individual level, although British Athletics have vowed to offer alternative opportunities like relay camps for certain developing athletes.
Chalmers commented that this is ‘just a different approach’ to previous years and is still hopeful of maintaining his full-time approach to athletics.
The 24-year-old Sarnian has been a highly dependable component of GB 4x400m relay teams in recent years, including helping the mixed quartet place sixth in their Olympic bow at Tokyo 2020.
However, recent men’s teams have not been outstanding internationally – they have dropped batons on high-profile occasions and lost out in the heats of Tokyo – and Guernsey Athletics development officer Tom Druce had admitted that the loss of funding was a realistic possibility.
‘I had put it out there that it might happen, so in a way it’s not a huge surprise,’ Druce said.
‘It’s obviously disappointing for those it affects.’
Conversely, Druce highlighted several young GB athletes who ran surprisingly fast times in the mid-45sec. range – near Chalmers’ own personal best of 45.64 – late last season.
‘You could argue it the other way and say it does look strong enough,’ he added in a positive endorsement of GB 4x400m running’s future.
Overall, the naming of 67 Olympic prospects in the 2021-22 WCP is a small step down from the previous year’s 72.
British Athletics performance director Sara Symington said the new approach to relays would allow ‘more flexibility and look to support the development of several athletes during this cycle’.
‘This support will be offered via camps and training opportunities to a cohort of eligible athletes so that we can build the team towards the longer-term targets of Paris and LA,’ she added.
Cam’s younger brother, 400m hurdler Ala, remains eligible for a return to British Athletics’ Futures Academy, for which names are usually announced shortly after the WCP.
