"Very poor decision" ; "Guy has earned a right to be there": Fans react to Guy Learmonth's absence from UK's World Athletics Indoor Championships team
The athletics fans recently reacted to British-Scottish athlete Guy Learmonth's omission from the entry list of the hotly awaited World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Learmonth has missed the automatic selection for the World Athletics Indoor Championships to be held from March 1 to 3, 2024 at the Commonwealth Arena in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
The 31-year-old recorded a time of 1:47.91 after finishing 0.001 seconds behind Jack Higgins earlier this month at the British Indoor Championships in Arena Birmingham in Glasgow, Scotland, which served as the qualifying event for the Indoor Championships.
However, Learmonth has missed his spot from competing in the Championships while Collins Kipruto from Kenya and Efrem Mekonnnen from Ethiopia made the cut, registering 1:47.95 and 1:48.02 at their respective qualifying event.
Fans expressed their dissent to Learmonth's exclusion from the list on social media as one of the fans wrote:
"Disgraceful. Guy has earned a right to be there."
A fan expressed their disagreement writing:
"Makes the decision even more ridiculous. It’s indefensible really."
Anther fan conveyed disapproval by referring to the decision as a "poor show" by the selectors.
"I don’t understand why he’s not been selected… it’s a really poor show from the selectors …"
A fan expressed dissatisfaction by simply marking the decision as,
"Ludicrous"
Another fan expressed their dismissal, marking the incident as a lost opportunity to attract interest, highlighting athletes perform exceptionally well at home games.
"Especially as athletes at a home games often raise their performance level. In a sport that desperately needs storylines to help boost interest and it shoots itself in the foot again."
Here are a few other reactions:
"They've completely taken this golden opportunity for me away" - Guy Learmonth on missing out from the World Indoor Athletics Championships roster
Guy Learmonth expressed his dissent with the UK Athletics following his omission from the upcoming World Indoor Championships.
According to British Athletics policies, an athlete has to meet the World Athletics qualification standard or should obtain a certain ranking to represent the British squad.
While Guy Learmonth's personal best falls short of the qualification standard, his ranking was adequate for an invitation to the championships. During an interview with BBC, the 31-year-old expressed his frustration, stating the it an end to his Indoors career.
"They've completely taken this golden opportunity for me away to end my indoors career in Glasgow," Learmonth said.
"I know it's personal. I've taken it higher up and we'll see how that unfolds. I won't hold my breath, but it's just disgusting, and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with this."