The winner of this years Cobh 10-mile road race was British Olympic marathon runner Ben Connor in a time of 48m 15s. Some may not be aware of the fact that he was in the news recently when he declined a place to represent Great Britain at the European Road Running Championships due to the costs involved.
In its selection policy for events like the half marathon in Leuven, Belgium in April, UK Athletics asks athletes for a fee of up to £1,100 to cover things like travel, accommodation, food, kit and staff.
In response to the costs, Ben Connor wrote.. "Representing GB shouldn't come down to who can or cannot afford to pay for it.
Representing your country is a privilege, and in athletics is earned via a qualifying process, which while not always perfect, gives everyone the same chances to gain selection.
Coming from a working class background I don't like the potential precedent being set where people, especially junior athletes of the future, don't have the same development or competition opportunities because of finances.
I wish there was more transparency and honesty regarding the state of our governing bodies finances and about how our sport is being managed for this to be the position."
You can read more about it in the following links...
a) BBC News website... https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/articles/cly8lrlnxn4o
b) Athletics Weekly... https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/ben-connor-rejects-gb-selection-after-being-asked-to-pay-to-compete-1039998712/
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