The mistake that led to Great Britain’s 4x400m relay team being disqualified from the European Athletics Team Championships after a reserve shot putter was accidentally named in the line-up for the race has been blamed on a “technical error”.
The administrative gaffe saw Youcef Zatat, who had not even travelled to the tournament in Bydgoszcz in Poland, included in GB’s four-man team for the race instead of Rabah Yousif, which meant the quartet were prevented from participating in the final.
UK Athletics performance director admitted the calamitous error had been “gutting for the athletes involved”.
“There was an error with the declaration process and we are exploring exactly what happened,” Black said. ”We’ll be reviewing with those involved in detail over the next day or so.”
“The athletes were amazing. They were informed and took it on the chin.
“It is the worst way to finish the event and we apologise to those who were looking forward to seeing the GB men’s 4x400m team doing battle as we know they would have competed with excellence.”
GB finished fifth overall in the championships with 302.5 points while the winners of the 4x400m relay, Italy, ended in fourth on 316 points.
Twelve points were available for each event’s winner, with 11 available for second place – meaning Britain’s overall finish was ultimately unaffected by the disqualification.
