Olympics: Lynsey Sharp plunges into Games controversy

Published on 04/07/2012 00:00

THE inclusion of Dwain Chambers, however predictable, had been expected to grab most of the attention when the Team GB Olympic track and field team was named, but it was Lynsey Sharp’s name that immediately caught the eye.

Less than a fortnight ago, Sharp’s surname was mis-spelled on the complicated, colour-coded spreadsheet used by UK Athletics to try to explain the likely Olympic selection scenario.

Yesterday afternoon, the 21-year-old Scot found herself at the centre of the biggest controversy of that very selection after being named as the only female British athlete in the 800 metres for the London Games.

Sharp, the daughter of Scotland’s former Olympic sprinter Cameron Sharp, won the Olympic trials and claimed silver in the European Championships in Helsinki at the weekend, but did not have the “A” qualifying time, unlike Marilyn Okoro, Jenny Meadows, Jemma Simpson and Emma Jackson.

That meant picking Sharp would preclude selecting anyone else, as athletes with the “B’” standard can only be selected if no-one with the “A” is chosen, but that was exactly what happened after two hours of debate amid Monday’s six-hour selection meeting.

“It’s absolutely amazing. I was shaking, I was crying,” Sharp said of the phone call which confirmed her selection. “I knew it was a huge decision for them to make to take me and not the others. I feel it was a really brave decision. I want to thank them for having such enormous faith in me and now I am absolutely determined not to let them down.”

Meadows said in Helsinki she would definitely appeal if left out but has since had a change of heart, while Okoro has threatened to quit the sport despite being named in the 4x400m relay squad and Simpson complained on Twitter that places should not have been left unfilled.

Sharp’s father Cameron reached the semi-finals of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 in both the 100 and 200 metres, finished fourth in the 4x100m relay and claimed a European silver medal in Athens in 1982. However, the 54-year-old regards getting out of a wheelchair and learning to walk again unaided to be a greater achievement than anything he achieved on the track, following a car accident in 1991 which left him battling to recuperate.

“I think he was completely over the moon and I’ve had texts from my grandad and my aunt and everything,” Sharp added.

“He was chuffed to bits for me. I’ve heard a lot of stories over the years about him being at the Olympics in Moscow and now I am going as well.”

UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee insisted that the four women not selected only had themselves to blame.

Although former drugs cheats Chambers and Carl Myerscough were named in the 77-strong athletics squad, it was Sharp’s inclusion that caused the most controversy. “This was difficult because not one of the athletes took control of their own destiny,” Van Commenee said. “They made it difficult by not doing what they were supposed to do. Once a panel has to spend two hours it’s a bad sign. It was decided that most important was to have the right performance at the right time. Lynsey Sharp has done very good business recently, beating everyone at the trials, did very well at the Euros, beating athletes who have run 1:57, 1:58, 1:59, beating Jemma Simpson on both occasions.”

Okoro and Jackson could have sealed their places by finishing first or second at the trials but were fifth and seventh – Jackson having suffered a rib injury and Okoro running a terrible tactical race – while Meadows has not competed all season due to injury.

Sharp’s fellow Scot Lee McConnell was named as expected for the 4x400m relay and as Van Commenee’s “discretionary pick” for the 400m individual after finishing third in the trials. “I was always confident about the relay place but was pleasantly surprised to get the pick for the individual,” she said. “To go to one Olympics is special but with this one being in London I just didn’t want to miss out on it.”

Eilish McColgan will be at London 2012 for the steeplechase at the age of just 21 while Eilidh Child – the No 1 ranked 400m hurdler in Britain – believes she can make the final in her event.

There was grave disappointment, however, for Steph Twell with the Scottish Commonwealth Games medallist from Delhi unable to run in Helsinki last week and discounted for selection on fitness grounds after making it to Beijing when she was only 18. Mark Dry missed out as well to rival Alex Smith with only one hammer thrower selected.