Both he and Glasgow 2026 teammate Abi Galpin are set to race the Novuna UK Championships at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, the same site as the ‘Europeans’ will be held in August.
400m hurdler Chalmers will confirm his place at those European Championships early if he wins, having already gone well under the standard with his 48.53sec. season’s best.
Thankfully, he is well-positioned to succeed – and claim his sixth British title – after a Tyri Donovan ended his winning run last year.
The Sarnian tops the 2026 British rankings and, in fact, all three of his runs this season are quicker than the 48.87 of Jake Minshull, the only other man under the notable barrier and Europeans standard of 49.00sec.
‘I think, realistically, it’s looking a lot more this year like Ala just needs to go and focus on himself and execute what he can do,’ Guernsey Athletics development officer Tom Druce said.
‘If he can do that, he looks pretty safe for another title.’
Donovan has not yet backed up last year’s immense promise, which culminated in his British-leading 48.21 at the Tokyo 2025 World Championships.
His current season’s best is a relatively unthreatening 49.74.
‘It’s a big ask for him and the others to go over a second quicker,’ Druce said.
Chalmers will not, unlike that rollercoaster qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympics, need to chase a time in the final.
‘He is not going to need that massive performance on Sunday,’ the development officer added.
‘He just needs another one of what he’s been doing.’
Chalmers goes in today’s 400m hurdles heats from 12.10pm, which feed into tomorrow’s final at 2.05pm.
Although yet to find her best form following persistent injuries, Galpin is on the up going into Birmingham.
She will be facing a stacked field in the 200m, over which she recently her fastest time in nearly two years – 24.35 – at Footes Lane.
‘It has been tough building back up, but she seems to be on an upwards trajectory going into what is a great event to be part of,’ Druce said.
‘We want to be building back towards a 23sec. run.’
Work with Commonwealths team physio Jim Marshall has provided much-needed clarification on long-term injury struggles.
This has led her to ease off on the long jump – which she had been targeting for Glasgow – and focus on the 200m.
The 200m heats run from 12.50pm tomorrow ahead of a 3.39pm final.
The championships will be shown live on BBC Sport.
Middle-distance stars Gian-Luca Robilliard and Eloise Scholes, meanwhile, were in action at Wednesday’s BMC Birmingham University Gold Standard meet.
Robilliard ran 1min. 53.24sec. for 800m after an illness-interrupted build-up, while Scholes was outside her recent bests with a 4-33.20 1,500m.
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