SerpApi.Org
The Commonwealth Games will take place in Glasgow with one of British athletics’ biggest stars not competing after Keely Hodgkinson elected not to enter the event.
The Olympic 800m champion is, like all top athletes, managing a busy programme this summer and had long signalled her intention to skip the Games.
Hodgkinson will instead prioritise the European Athletic Championships, which begin in Birmingham on 10 August.
The middle-distance runner has won the last two continental crowns in the 800m, taking the title two years ago just before winning gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
There are 63 athletes entered for Team England in a busy athletics programme at Scotstoun Stadium, home of the Glasgow Warriors.
They were set to include Katarina Johnson-Thompson – but injury has forced the heptathlete to pull out having been hoping to complete a three-peat after winning golds on the Gold Coast and in Birmingham at the last two Games.
200m World Championship silver medallist Amy Hunt will compete in the 100m, and could also anchor a strong English quartet seeking to defend their sprint relay crown.
Home hopes for Scotland include Josh Kerr, who will return to action after breaking the mile world record at the Diamond League event in London.
The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.
