Ahead of the Müller British Athletics Championships in Manchester, we look at the men’s and women’s sprints and hurdles selection races

World champion Dina Asher-Smith, CJ Ujah and Daryll Neita lead the entries in the sprints and hurdles events at the Manchester Regional Arena this weekend (June 25-27). Here is our run-down of the main contenders.

Women’s 100m

Dina Asher-Smith will be one of the strongest favourites of the weekend and the 25-year-old is entered in the short sprint as opposed to the 200m distance in which she holds the world title.

Alongside her, though, the battle for Olympic selection will be fierce. Daryll Neita has been in great form with a PB of 11.04 recently. But also hoping to make their mark as they attack the Olympic standard of 11.15 will be Imani Lansiquot, Asha Philip and Kristal Awuah.

Individual selection aside, athletes will of course be aiming for relay inclusion too.

Women’s 200m

With world champion Dina Asher-Smith, who has a single medal to her name at this event – gold in 2016, not contesting the event, the favourite is 2018 champion Beth Dobbin, who has the qualifying mark this year with a 22.78 clocking.

Jodie Williams, the 2014 and 2019 winner, has the necessary 22.80 qualifying time from 2019 while her best legal time this year is 22.88 and she has run a wind-assisted 22.68 (2.7). She also contests the 400m which is completed before the start of the 200m heats.

The Rio semi finalist won her first golds of note in the World Youth Championships of 2009 and a fellow European Junior winner Amy Hunt also has the qualifying time. In 2019 she ran a world under-18 record 22.42 though the 19-year-old’s best time this year is 23.73 and ranks her just 21st in the UK.

Ama Pipi also is down for the 200m and 400m double and her best time this summer is 23.13 which is the vicinity of medal potential along with former world junior 100m runner-up and a 200m bronze medallist from this event in 2019, Ashleigh Nelson, who has run 23.19.

Newly crowned under-23 champion Kristal Awuah ran 23.24 into a headwind at Bedford and could be ready to break 23 seconds in better conditions.

Former world youth champion and Rio Olympian Desiree Henry has a 22.46 PB from 2016 but goes into the event with a 23.30 2021 best.

Also entered are the Rio Olympian and 2012 and 2015 champion Margaret Adeoye who has run 23.44 this season and defending champion Hannah Williams who goes into the event ranked just 46th in the UK with a 24.35 best.

Women’s 400m

With relay places also on offer with an excellent chance of an Olympic medal this event could one of the most keenly contested outside the middle-distances.

Three athletes have the necessary 51.35 Olympic standard from this year.

Little-known Nicole Yeargin has never competed in Britain according to Power of 10 but she was mightily impressive in the NCAA Championships where she ran a 50.96 heat and was fourth in the final with 51.02 and she ran some storming 400m relay legs for the University of Southern California, where she gained a silver.

Jodie Williams has reduced her PB to 51.02 this summer and looked very strong in the European Indoor Championships where she won medals in the individual event and relay.

The other athlete with the time also lines up in the 200m and Ama Pipi’s sub-23 PB speed contributed to a near half-second best in Kladno of 51.08.

While the first two are guaranteed Olympic selection with the time, it is certainly not just a three-way battle.

The champion of the last two years Laviai Nielsen has a 2019 qualifying time with a 50.83 and a 51.42 best that suggests sub-51 form is on the horizon.

The European Junior silver medallist Amber Anning is still only 20 years old and has improved to 51.78 this summer and another in PB form this year is last year’s bronze medallist Yasmin Liverpool who has run 51.73.

The 2017 champion Zoey Clark has a 51.36 PB but has run 51.79 this season and has been a mainstay of Britain’s recent relay teams as has 2016 champion and Olympic semi-finalist Emily Diamond who has run 51.82 with a 51.23 PB.

The reigning 200m champion Hannah Williams, and younger sister of Jodie, has improved to 52.49 this year.

Women’s 100m hurdles

Five years ago Cindy Sember was a shock fourth in Rio and she is in even better shape in 2021, having run a PB 12.53 and won a European Indoor medal and she goes for her third successive title.

Her elder sister the 2014 European champion Tiffany Porter, also won a medal in Torun and was in the 2016 Rio final and her 12.62 best in 2021 is her best for six years.

Both are near guaranteed Tokyo selection whatever happens here as two other athletes won’t better the stern 12.84 Olympic qualifier.

The next best on times is heptathlete Holly Mills, who has run a legal 13.21 backed up by a wind-assisted 13.07.

Others who should be in the medal shake-up are the seemingly even-matched Emma Nwofor and under-23 champion Jenny Blundell (both 13.37 this season), Anastasia Davies (13.38), former double champion Alicia Barratt (13.39), last year’s bronze medallist Heather Paton (13.40) and Megan Marrs (13.46).

Women’s 400m hurdles

Three athletes have the necessary 55.40 standard this year.

There have been some doubts over the participation of reigning champion Jessie Knight, who has not competed since winning at Ostrava against a world-class field on May 19 in 54.74.

Last month she was joined in the all-time top 10 by Jessica Turner who ran 54.77 in winning in Oordegem backed up by a fine third in the Florence Diamond League in 54.79. Turner has four medals but has never won the title in this event.

Lina Nielsen was runner-up last year and the European Team Championships winner has improved to 55.27 this summer.

European bronze medallist and Doha semi-finalist Meghan Beesley has a 55.82 2021 best but did get the qualifying time in 2019 and the 2018 and 2019 champion is looking better race by race.

Nicole Kendall (56.32), Hayley McLean (56.43) and Jessica Tappin (56.93) have all set PBs this summer and should place highly in a quality event despite four-time champion Eilidh Doyle’s recently announced retirement.

Women’s para 100m

Sophie Hahn, Maria Lyle and Libby Clegg are among a strong line-up of para-athletes in this mixed category sprint race on Sunday afternoon.

They all won gold at the recent WPA European Para Championships in Bydgoszcz, whereas also competing in Manchester are Kadeena Cox and Sophie Kamlish, among others.

Women’s wheelchair 400m

Hannah Cockroft has been in world record-breaking form and with the team for the Tokyo Paralympics soon to be announced she will race over one-lap in Manchester on Sunday.

The 28-year-old multiple Paralympics champion is joined by Sammi Kinghorn and Fabienne André in a strong field.

Men’s 100m

A British runner has yet to break 10 seconds this year but that could change in Manchester in the quest for Olympic selection. CJ Ujah has shown fine form this year with a 10.03 clocking in California last month. Zharnel Hughes has also been running well with, among other things, a wind-assisted sub-20-second 200m clocking, whereas Andy Robertson clocked 10.01 for 100m this month as well, although it was heavily wind-assisted.

Elsewhere the contenders range from up-and-coming athletes like Romell Glave and former champions like Ojie Edoburun and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey to some big names on the comeback trail from injury like Reece Prescod, James Dasaolu and James Ellington. Multiple British champion Dwain Chambers, now aged 43, is entered too.

Men’s 200m

On 2021 times, European 100m champion and 2015 winner Zharnel Hughes stands alone with a 20.14 backed up a windy 19.93 and 19.93 on a straight but he does not contest this event in Manchester.

Also missing is the next ranked Miguel Francis, who has run 20.51 this year but has a 19.97 qualifier from 2019 but has not raced since April.

The 2016 and 2019 champion Adam Gemili, who missed a medal by inches in Rio is entered but has a 2021 best of just 20.58 but did get the necessary 20.24 qualifying time in 2019, where he was also a close fourth in Doha.

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who was fourth himself in the 2017 World Championships, doesn’t have the qualifying time and is another searching for form with just a 20.76 best in 2021.

The 100m exponent CJ Ujah has run 20.82 this year but has a 20.39 lifetime best and could make a big breakthrough while 20.27 man from way back in 2013 Delano Williams, reigning champion Andrew Morgan-Harrison and world under-20 champion Jona Efoloko are other who could challenge but the latter has a modest 2021 best of just a hand-timed 21.0 to his name.

Former World and European 60m champion Richard Kilty (20.98 in 2021 but 20.34 PB) is also entered along with the 2015 European Junior Champion Tommy Ramdhan who has run a wind-assisted 20.65 but has only run 21.61 legally.

Reece Prescod is also entered in this event but in 2021 has been exactly a second down on his 20.38 PB, but he believes he is rounding into form after a spell of injury.

Men’s 400m

On season’s bests a number of athletes such as Matt Hudson-Smith (45.51), Joseph Brier (45.84) and European Team Championships runner-up Cameron Chalmers (45.89) are separated by only a few tenths of a second but no one has the tough 44.90 Olympic standard.

European champion Hudson-Smith is therefore over a second off of his 44.48 PB this season and has not run faster than 44.90 since 2018 as he bids for his fifth title though joint-ranked top Charlie Dobson has not raced since his 45.51 in April and is not entered.

As with the women’s 4x400m, the competition for places in the relay will be fierce with a large array of contenders including Lee Thompson who impressed indoors but has a 46.27 best this summer and five-time champion Martyn Rooney who goes into this event ranked just 38th equal with a 47.90 best in 2021.

Alex Haydock-Wilson has been inside 46 this summer with a 45.90 but 2015 champion Rabah Yousif has just a 46.35 best and is almost two seconds down on the 44.54 form he showed to make the 2015 World Championships final.

Also entered is the 2017 World Championships semi-finalist Dwayne Cowan, who surprisingly has never won a medal in the event despite a 45.34 PB though his only 400m this season was a leg in the World Relays.

Michael Ohioze, Efekemo Okoro, Niclas Baker and Owen Smith are all in the 46.3’s this summer and are close enough to the fastest to battle for a medal.

Defending champion Alex Knibbs is also entered but will be more of a factor in the 400m hurdles.

Men’s 110m hurdles

The Rio semi finalist and three-time champion Andrew Pozzi is out on his own with the Olympic qualifier of 13.32 and was an impressive second in the Florence Diamond League and is pretty much guaranteed selection for Tokyo.

Another three-time winner David King had a huge breakthrough to win in Turku in 13.37 and if you discount excess Americans and Jamaicans he is in the world top 20 for 2021 and so may well have a chance of joining Pozzi in Tokyo even without the qualifying time.

The evenly-matched Cameron Fillery and James Weaver ran PBs the same day as King at Copenhagen and their 13.46 and 13.47 PBs have moved them into the all-time top 20.

Two other young hurdlers in good form are NCAA finalist Tade Ojora (13.57 this summer) and European Junior champion Joshua Zeller (13.64).

At the other end of the age scale is 36-year-old and three-time champion and eight-time medallist Will Sharman, who despite three world championships top five places in 2009, 2011 and 2013 never competed in an Olympics and he has run 14.36 this summer and is ranked 11th in the UK.

Men’s 400m hurdles

The Olympic standard is a rather farcical 48.90 – a time that just 13 non-Americans have run in 2021 and no Britons are anywhere near that time but there may be possibilities of athletes getting in within the world rankings quota.

Doha semi-finalist Chris McAlister tops the 2021 rankings with 49.61 and is gradually building fitness and looks a feasible candidate for Tokyo selection via the World Athletics route.

McAlister was second in this event in 2020 but was well beaten by Alastair Chalmers who was a fine second in the European Team Championships and has run 49.95 this summer but should go much quicker.

Second in the rankings is Alex Knibbs who ran a PB 49.82 in winning in Oordegem earlier this month.

Other likely medallists include sub-50 hurdlers from past years Efekemo Okoro and 2019 champion Jacob Paul who have run respective 50.36 and 50.66 times this summer.

Five-time winner Dai Greene, first medalled in this event 15 years ago but the former world champion has only been able to run 51.18 this summer but ranked seventh could well make the final.

Almost half his age is Alex Knibbs, who has been selected for the European under-20 event after a 51.47 win at Bedford and could also be in the final.

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