National governing body names 68 athletes set to receive support through its Olympic World Class Programme

Dina Asher-Smith, Mo Farah and Katarina Johnson-Thompson are among the 68 athletes named on the Olympic World Class Programme lists for 2020.

Of the three tiers to the programme, 16 athletes have been listed for ‘Olympic Podium’ level support, 29 for ‘Olympic Podium Potential’ and 23 for ‘Olympic Relays’.

The overall figure of athletes offered Olympic support is two more than in 2018-19.

Asher-Smith and Johnson-Thompson both gained gold at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, while Farah has recently announced he will be targeting a return to the track as he hopes to race the 10,000m at the Olympics in Tokyo after focusing on the marathon during the past couple of years.

After being listed solely for relay level support in 2018-19 but having gone on to finish fourth in the 200m in Doha, Adam Gemili will now receive individual Olympic Podium support.

Neil Gourley, Abigail Irozuru, Chris McAlister, Aimee Pratt, Charlotte Purdue, Jessica Turner, Steph Twell, Jamie Webb, Ben Williams and Jodie Williams have been added to the programme, while Rosie Clarke, Adam Hague, Desiree Henry, Shara Proctor and Adelle Tracey are among the athletes who do not retain their places.

Jake Wightman and Tom Bosworth, who finished fifth and seventh in the 1500m and 20km race walk respectively in Doha, have  moved from Olympic Podium Potential to Olympic Podium level support.

The World Class Programme (WCP) is UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded initiative designed to support the delivery of success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. British Athletics adds that membership on the 2020 WCP is based on an athletes’ potential to win a medal at Tokyo 2020 or Paris 2024.

Due to the late staging of the World Para Athletics Championships, the full WCP including Paralympic levels is set to be announced in the new year.

British Athletics Olympic World Class Programme 2020

Olympic Podium (16)
Dina Asher-Smith
Tom Bosworth
Holly Bradshaw
Mo Farah
Adam Gemili
Callum Hawkins
Sophie Hitchon
Zharnel Hughes
Abigail Irozuru
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Nick Miller
Laura Muir
Reece Prescod
Lynsey Sharp
Lorraine Ugen
Jake Wightman

Olympic Podium Potential (29)
Andrew Butchart
Taylor Campbell
Melissa Courtney
Tim Duckworth
Niamh Emerson
Tom Gale
Elliot Giles
Neil Gourley
Charlie Grice
Dewi Griffiths
Josh Kerr
Morgan Lake
Kyle Langford
Chris McAlister
Eilish McColgan
Sarah McDonald
Naomi Ogbeta
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke
Andrew Pozzi
Aimee Pratt
Charlotte Purdue
Jemma Reekie
Daniel Rowden
Jazmin Sawyers
Steph Twell
Jamie Webb
Laura Weightman
Callum Wilkinson
Ben Williams

Olympic Relays (23)
Amy Allcock
Kristal Awuah
Cameron Chalmers
Zoey Clark
Emily Diamond
Beth Dobbin
Eilidh Doyle
Miguel Francis
Matthew Hudson-Smith
Richard Kilty
Imani-Lara Lansiquot
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake
Daryll Neita
Ashleigh Nelson
Laviai Nielsen
Asha Philip
Martyn Rooney
Danny Talbot
Jessica Turner
CJ Ujah
Jodie Williams
Bianca Williams
Rabah Yousif