Athletics: Edinburgh’s Lynsey Sharp picked for Olympic games

Published on 03/07/2012 15:11

EDINBURGH athlete Lynsey Sharp today received a shock selection for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The 800m runner’s selection came despite the fact she had not achieved the strict A qualifying standard of 1:59.90 set by UK Athletics.

Sharp made only a B standard time of 2:00.52, although she had won the official trial and then took the silver medal in last week’s European Championships in Helsinki.

In naming the 21-year-old Edinburgh AC member, Britain’s selectors have had to reject the claims of three athletes with the A standard - Marilyn Okoro the fastest Briton this season with a time of 1:59.33, but with a record of tactical blunders, Jenny Meadows, the experienced British internationalist with a proven record in major events but who hasn’t raced at all this year due to an Achilles tendon injury and Emma Jackson, another runner who has been under two minutes this year but was ill at the time of the UK Trial.

Meadows has already made it clear she will appeal if she is left out of the team on the grounds of her record and the fact she believes she has still time to prove her fitness.