Gold Coast 2018: Team England adds Alicia Barrett and Jessica Turner for Commonwealth Games

Sprint hurdler Alicia Barrett and 400m hurdler Jessica Turner have been added to the Team England squad for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Their inclusion on the team follows the withdrawal of sprinters James Dasaolu and Ashleigh Nelson, who had been selected for the 100m plus men’s 4x100m and the women’s 4x100m respectively.

Both hurdlers represented GB at the IAAF World Championships in London last summer, with British champion and European under-20 silver medallist Barrett racing in the 100m hurdles heats in the UK capital and European under-23 silver medallist Turner competing in the 400m hurdles heats.

Commonwealth Games England said that Dasaolu and Nelson “opted to withdraw from the squad” and added: “As with previous replacements, the panel invited the next athlete on the reserve list which was Jonny Mellor. However, due to his initial non-selection, the marathon runner decided to concentrate on the Virgin London Marathon in April.”

Mellor – who made a marathon breakthrough in Berlin – had taken to Twitter following the initial team announcement to voice his disappointment.

“Very disappointed not to be selected for the Commonwealth Games despite working so hard to run 63-secs inside the qualifying standard,” he wrote at the time.

Source: AW

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