McArthur and Bell land GB selections at CE

Wednesday 11th January 2017

Howard Bell and Holly McArthur will win GB vests later this month

Two Scottish athletes will land GB and NI vests later this month after being named by British Athletics for the Combined Events International Indoor Match in Prague, Czech Republic on January 28-29.

Medal-winning performances in Sheffield last weekend at the England Athletics Champs clinched places for Holly McArthur and Howard Bell.

The two scottishathletics National Academy members are selected at U20 level with both being coached by Iain McEwan.

McArthur, who won a GB and NI vest at the Manchester International last August, won gold in the U20 event last weekend while Howard, who will represent GB for the first time, took silver.

‘I’m very pleased for both athletes and for what it means to our training group,’ said Iain, with both athletes part of the Whitemoss CE training group.

‘We work hard to be ready at such an early point in the winter season and to get the rewards is brilliant. At this age, it’s all about adding the next level of experience and getting to Prague to rub shoulders with some of the best talent in Europe will stand then in good stead for the future.

‘Holly didn’t put a foot wrong at Sheffield and is showing a growing maturity in pressurised environments.

‘As the day went on, it became clear that the gold medal would come down to the long jump and I was so pleased to see her take off on the board in her first attempt and finish the jump in style. That gave her an unassailable lead (and her tally of 3804 was over the required standard of 3700 points for GB selection).

‘Howard had a bug for a while going into the competition and was short of technical training and physical conditioning. So I was a bit nervous when he stepped up for his last event, the 1000m.

‘But he didn’t disappoint and even gave a PB performance in that event to secure the silver medal and it is great for him to get this selection.’

With Emma Canning and Tom Chandler having represented GB and NI at this event last year, that’s four different Scottish Combined Events athletes earning international honours in a 12-month period.

Full team for Prague is within the story on the British Athletics website