Claxton faces anxious wait (From Gazette)

Claxton faces anxious wait

10:10am Monday 27th July 2009 in Athletics By Simon Spurgeon

Sarah Claxton is facing an anxious wait to see if her name is included by selectors in the list of British athletes heading to next month’s World Championships in Berlin.

The list is due to be announced tomorrow, but it is not certain that Claxton’s name will be on it after she failed to set the qualifying time this season ahead of today’s selection meeting.

The 29-year-old Olympic finalist from Colchester was hoping to impress selectors with a fast time in the 100 metre hurdles at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace last weekend.

She has had her early season progress hampered by an Achilles injury and knew she needed a strong performance to earn a place.

However, she was only able to run 13.11 seconds for an eighth place finish in a high quality field.

The fact that it was a season’s best time may be scant consolation if her performance hasn’t proved impressive enough.

However, Claxton said before the Grand Prix meeting that her times from last year’s running - when she was well within the qualifying standard - could be taken into consideration for selection.

It just remains now whether the selectors feel her current form warrants a place ahead of the team announcement tomorrow.