Marathon runner to appeal Olympics snub

Charlotte Purdue, the fourth-fastest British marathon runner in history, will formally appeal her controversial omission from the first wave of track and field athletes named for the Tokyo Olympics after selectors instead chose an athlete more than one minute slower.

Team GB announced its first seven athletes for the Games on Thursday: three men and three women in the marathon, along with Commonwealth silver medallist Tom Bosworth in the 20-kilometre race walk.

However, the announcement was most notable for Purdue’s omission, who was the sole British entrant in the women’s marathon at the 2019 World Championships. Earlier that year, she was the first British finisher at the London Marathon in a personal best two hours, 25 minutes and 38 seconds.

Instead, the final spot on the women’s Olympic marathon team went to Steph Twell, whose best time of 2.26:40 came at the Frankfurt Marathon in October 2019.

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Selection was always likely to prove contentious after only Steph Davis assured her place when winning last week’s Olympic marathon trials. That left the selectors two further spots to fill, with Jess Piasecki, Purdue and Twell – all of whom missed the trials – eligible having previously run the required qualification time.