On the track Laura Muir was her usual brilliant self as she powered away to win the British 800m title in Birmingham. Off it her rivals accused British Athletics of bending the rules to allow her to race.
Lynsey Sharp, who finished fifth, was blunt. “Games have been played all week by individuals and also by our governing body, which is meant to be unbiased,” she said, adding she had found out that Muir was in the 800m only when the start list was updated on Friday night.
Another finalist, Revée Walcott-Nolan, and her coach, Matthew Yates, sent an explosive letter of protest, seen by the Guardian, before the race claiming Ian Hodge, the event list organiser, had been “pushed” by UK Athletics’ performance director, Neil Black, to include Muir in the 800m after the deadline. In their view Muir should have been disqualified.
In response UK Athletics insisted no officials had broken any rules. It also sent the Guardian a copy of an Excel spreadsheet showing Muir had entered both the 800m and 1500m at 6.08pm on 24 June – inside the deadline by under six hours. “No athlete entered in the women’s 800m has been granted late entry or showed favouritism in any manner in the lead-up to this weekend’s championships,” a spokesperson said.
Muir settled the debate on the track by winning in 2min 01.22sec with Shelayna Oskan-Clarke bagging the second automatic qualifying place for the European Championships and Adelle Tracey third. The ramifications off it, however, are likely to continue for some time yet.
