Lewis-Francis loses funding

Eurosport - Tue, 27 Oct 15:10:00 2009

Mark Lewis-Francis has seen his lottery funding withdrawn - just five years after anchoring Great Britain to Olympic sprint relay gold in Athens.

2007 leichtathletik Der Brite Mark Lewis-Francis hat zwei verpasste Tests mit «Faulheit» erklärt. - 0

The 27-year old Birchfield Harrier is not among the athletes named on the World Class Performance Programme for next season, where the European Championships in Barcelona and Commonwealth Games in Delhi are the highlight.

Lewis-Francis, a world junior champion in 1999 who was once dubbed the world's fastest teenager, has seen his career flatter to deceive after failing to make the transition to senior athletics.

He missed last year's Beijing Olympics with an Achilles tendon injury but vowed to return with a bang this season, despite running his wind-assisted 9.97 seconds personal best seven years ago.

He appointed former Olympic champion Linford Christie as his coach and claimed he was posting some encouraging times during warm weather training in California earlier this year.

But his quickest 100m time this season was a lacklustre 10.37 secs - placing him only 16th on the British rankings.

There is also no place on the funding list for Welsh sprinter Christian Malcolm, another promising junior who has seen his senior career fail to live up to expectations.

In addition Craig Pickering - a former European indoor silver medallist - has not been given individual podium funding, although his medal potential has been recognised as part of the sprint relay squad.

UK Athletics announced their funding plans just one day after chief executive Niels de Vos had confidently predicted ten medals at London 2012 Olympics.

British athletes won six medals at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin earlier this year.

Head coach Charles van Commenee insists being frozen out in 2010 does not mean the end of a career - highlighting Andy Turner's return to full funding following a much improved 2009 campaign.

"The criteria and selection process has been redeveloped to be much clearer and more transparent for all involved and I am confident it has produced a crop of athletes who will deliver to the aims of the programme, namely success on the global stage," he said.

The 27-year old Birchfield Harrier is not among the athletes named on the World Class Performance Programme for next season, where the European Championships in Barcelona and Commonwealth Games in Delhi are the highlight.

Lewis-Francis, a world junior champion in 1999 who was once dubbed the world's fastest teenager, has seen his career flatter to deceive after failing to make the transition to senior athletics.

He missed last year's Beijing Olympics with an Achilles tendon injury but vowed to return with a bang this season, despite running his wind-assisted 9.97 seconds personal best seven years ago.

He appointed former Olympic champion Linford Christie as his coach and claimed he was posting some encouraging times during warm weather training in California earlier this year.

But his quickest 100m time this season was a lacklustre 10.37 secs - placing him only 16th on the British rankings.

There is also no place on the funding list for Welsh sprinter Christian Malcolm, another promising junior who has seen his senior career fail to live up to expectations.

In addition Craig Pickering - a former European indoor silver medallist - has not been given individual podium funding, although his medal potential has been recognised as part of the sprint relay squad.

UK Athletics announced their funding plans just one day after chief executive Niels de Vos had confidently predicted ten medals at London 2012 Olympics.

British athletes won six medals at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin earlier this year.

Head coach Charles van Commenee insists being frozen out in 2010 does not mean the end of a career - highlighting Andy Turner's return to full funding following a much improved 2009 campaign.

"The criteria and selection process has been redeveloped to be much clearer and more transparent for all involved and I am confident it has produced a crop of athletes who will deliver to the aims of the programme, namely success on the global stage," he said.

More than the Games / Eurosport

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