Why fragile Brit stars are falling like flies

13 April 2012

When Tim Benjamin, the only Briton to reach an individual track final at the last World Championships, did not line up last night for this year's selection trials, he joined a group becoming less exclusive by the day. The injured.

Think of a name in British athletics and there is a good chance it was not one on the entry lists at the Norwich Union World Championships Trials, the national championships in all but name, which opened its three days at Manchester's Sports City last night.

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The pain game: Hansen has not jumped this summer because of injury

Benjamin was missing because he put his foot down a hole three weeks ago, turned his ankle and needs further time for rehabilitation. If the physiotherapists work their magic, he may run next Friday in the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace. He will be one of the luckier ones.

Rhys Williams, a gold medallist at European Under 20 and Under 23 championships, could not run last night in the 400metres hurdles. He has not raced all year and will not return before 2008. He has suffered stress fractures in both feet.

Another missing from her event was Ashia Hansen, former European and Commonwealth triple jump champion and indoor world record-holder. She made a tentative return from serious achilles injuries during the winter but has not jumped this summer.

Greg Rutherford, silver medallist at last year's European Championships, will not long jump today. The ankle injury that has prevented him from competing this summer needs more time.

Others missing this weekend are more long-term casualties.

Sam Ellis, bronze medallist at last year's European Championships, is out for the year with a knee injury. So is high jumper Ben Challenger after tearing his achilles and 2002 Commonwealth 1500m champion Michael East, with a knee problem.

Decathlete Dean Macey will not make an appearance this year, and nor will 2004 Olympic sprint finalist Abi Oyepitan.

Last year's world junior 100m champion Harry Aikines-Aryeetey has a stress fracture of the back, European indoor triple jump silver medallist Nathan Douglas has ended his brief summer with a muscle tear and then, of course, there is Paula Radcliffe, recovering from a back injury but not in time for the World Championships.

For them it was not the road to Osaka that began last night but the road to next year. If they are lucky. Oyepitan has been out for two years already, Hansen as long.

Hardly any of the above will be in the team that Britain sends to Japan for next month's championships — a group already expected to be the smallest ever because of higher demands of the selectors.

Performance director Dave Collins said wryly this week: "Too many of my cars are in the garage" — and he did not mean those high-performance cars the sport's sponsor, Alfa Romeo, have given his coaching staff.

So where has it all gone wrong at a time when the National Lottery's support of the sport and the English Institute of Sport means that more physiotherapists and doctors are on full-time contracts than ever.

Collins does not question that he has a problem. He only questions whether it is worse than ever. "The severity of the problem is just more obvious because there are fewer top-class athletes," he said.

There are various causes he identifies. One is that competition is more challenging than ever because standards are rising internationally and starts younger than ever.

But more significant may be the level of conditioning of Britain's youngsters coming into all sports. Collins said: "The level of fitness and conditioning in young people is at a lower level than ever. They come into sport at a lower base than previous generations, so it is easier for them to get injured."

From September those coming on to the lowest rung of Lottery support in their mid-teens will be put on strength and conditioning programmes to ready them for the training they will need to succeed.

Collins said: "People in sport are having to train harder these days because the levels are higher. We have to prepare them properly for that."

The immediate problem for Collins is that the small pool of talent from which he can choose a British team on Monday is presently smaller still.

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