2024 European Athletics Championships: Strong British squad selected for Rome including Keely Hodgkinson, Dina Asher-Smith, KJT and more
Great Britain are sending a strong contingent to the European Athletics Championships taking place in Rome from 7-12 June, in the last major athletics meet for the squad ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which starts 26 July.
Some athletes will be eyeballing their anticipated Olympic rivals in France's capital in less than two months. Others will be taking one of the final opportunities to showcase their form ahead of official selection by the British Olympic Committee, with the team announced on 5 July 2024 following the UK Athletics Championships and Trials weekend on 29-30 June.
Debutants, meanwhile, will be making their first inroads onto the circuit eager to pit themselves against the nine reigning World champions from across the continent who will be competing in Italy including Femke Bol (women's 400m hurdles), Jakob Ingebrigtsen (men's 1500/5000m), Karsten Warholm (men's 400m hurdles), Gianmarco Tamberi (men's high jump) and Mondo Duplantis (men's pole vault).
Olympics.com highlights some of the GB athletes heading into the gladiatorial arena in Rome.
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024. Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
European Athletics Championships 2024 preview: 10 storylines not to be missed in Rome
Johnson-Thompson and Hodgkinson line up in Rome
Great Britain's World champion in heptathlon, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, takes on Belgium's Nafi Thiam, amongst others, in what could be quite the tasty hors d'oeuvre ahead of the main course in Paris, with the silver medallist from Tokyo 2020 taking on Thiam, the reigning Olympic champion, at the Stadio Olimpico.
Yet to win a European title, Johnson-Thompson will be looking to thwart Thiam's bid for a threepeat, while also staking her claim for a pop at a first Olympic title to Thiam's double.
World silver medallist, Keely Hodgkinson, will be looking to take her sparkling early season form into l'Olimpico after securing a world-leading time of 1:55.78 in the 800m at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in May.
In her first 800m of the year, the Brit surged past world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya, showcasing a whole lot of hard work during winter training despite injury issues resulting in a missed indoor season – emerging outdoors finely tuned with a season's aim of improving on her Olympic silver medal from Japan.
"I would like to win in my career as many medals as possible," Hodgkinson told European Athletics early in 2024. "And I think if I was to miss it (Roma 2024), I’d be missing out on an opportunity. I’d love to look back on my career and say I did this many European Championships and I won this many medals. I don’t want anything to go to waste."
Asher-Smith, Neita, Bradshaw and Caudery take to the European stage
Withdrawals from the GB men's team include World men's 100m bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes who has cited focusing on training for Paris for his absence, as has one-lap wonder Matthew Hudson-Smith who secured a blistering European 400m record at the Oslo Diamond League on 30 May, lowering his own mark to 44.07.
Hot property Josh Kerr never planned to be in Rome and is continuing his preparations toward the "guaranteed" British medals in the 1500m in Paris that he's promised courtesy of either himself, Jake Wightman, the 2022 1500m World champion, or Neil Gourley, with only the latter of that trio competing in Rome.
Jeremiah Azu will take up the sprint baton for GB men competing in both the 100m and as part of the 4x100m team defending their European title from Munich 2022.
Dina Asher-Smith, the 2019 World champion in 200m, will take to the 100m in both the individual event and the relay, joining fellow quick-stepper Daryll Neita in the 4x100m, in which they are both Olympic bronze medallists. Neita, the second fastest British woman over 100m behind Asher-Smith, will also compete in the 200m.
A fascinating head-to-head will play out as Olympic pole vault bronze medallist from the last Games in Japan, Holly Bradshaw returns to the fray after a torrid time with mental and physical health. She'll take on compatriot and World Indoor champion and world leader Molly Caudery who is eyeing a first Olympic Games to Bradshaw's incredible fourth.
Twins Laviai Nielsen and Lina Nielsen, fresh from winning a first-ever longed-for international relay medal together with World indoor bronze in the 4x400m in March, will compete in their respective 400m, and 400m hurdles, disciplines.
Jessie Knight who was also in the line-up that secured a British record in Glasgow, is also competing in Rome alongside Lina over the barrier-filled one-lap race.
Andrew Pozzi makes a welcome return to the international scene after enlisting the help of one Colin Jackson, the two-time 110m hurdles world champion, in a bid for a place on the start line in France.
With the Olympic Qualifying Time secured in May, with his fastest time in four years of 13.23s, the three-time Olympian will be hoping for a romantic interlude in France this summer with his long-term partner... one Katarina Johnson-Thompson.