Josh Griffiths went from racing at London Marathon to competing for GB at London worlds in 2017.

Gosh It’s Josh: Griffiths Joins Jake Smith In GB Squad

By Owen Morgan

Cardiff Metropolitan University students past and present have been named in the Great Britain squad for the World Half Marathon Championships in Poland later this month.

Former Met student Josh Griffiths will win his first GB vest in almost three years, while Jake Smith will be making his senior debut having made his British track debut at last year’s European Under-23 Championships in Gävle, Sweden.

Griffiths represented GB at the London World Athletics Championships in 2017 following his brilliant breakthrough performance at the London Marathon earlier that year where he won the British Marathon Championship.

The Carmarthenshire athlete has since represented Wales at the Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the marathon.

Griffiths earned his place on the team for Gdynia in Poland by finishing eighth overall at the Vitality Big Half in London on Sunday, where he was the sixth British athlete home.

With the selection policy stating that automatic selection could be offered to the next eligible athlete if declined by auto-qualifiers, Griffiths has been named in the team following an outstanding 2019 and start to 2020.

Jake Smith finished third at the Vitality Big Half in London. Pic: Vitality Big Half.

The Swansea Harrier, who set a new half marathon personal best in Barcelona last month, will be joined on the GB team by rising young Cardiff Met student Smith.

Part of the successful James Thie training group in Cardiff, Smith finished third overall at the Big Half behind Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele and Chris Thompson, who also makes the team heading for Poland.

Bermudan-born Smith, who has spoken of the possibility of representing Wales in future, clocked 62:00 and broke his own British Under-23 record as he claimed one of the three automatic qualification places on offer last Sunday.

Cardiff Met’s Jake Smith Bursts Into GB Team For World Championships

The pair are part of a 10-strong GB team made up of five men and five women who will compete in the championships on March 29.

The team, officially unveiled on Tuesday, will be led by Welsh Athletics national coach Chris Jones.

Following the announcement, Jones said: “The full squad of 10 for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia showcases some of Great Britain’s most in-form athletes over the distance, exemplified by the performances at the trials and the form we have seen already this season.

“The team we have selected shows a good range of previous British international experience and features new names to the international scene and I hope this strength will be reflected in the overall outcome.s

“The championships will serve as an excellent opportunity for athletes to continue their upward trajectory on the roads and I hope that we can achieve a strong team position overall.”

The British athletes competing at the World Half Marathon Championships will have the added incentive of places at this summer’s European Athletics Championships in Paris being up for grabs.

The first two British athletes to finish in Poland will be automatically selected for the men’s and women’s teams to compete in the half marathon in Paris, as long as they have achieved the qualification standard of 64 minutes for men and 73 minutes for women. Teams of up to six athletes will be selected in the men’s and women’s events.

The full British team selected for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships on March 29:

Men:
Ben Connor (Derby AC)
Josh Griffiths (Swansea Harriers)
Matt Leach (Bedford & County)
Jake Smith (Cardiff Athletics)
Chris Thompson (Aldershot, Farnham & District)
Women:
Hayley Carruthers (Birchfield)
Stephanie Davis (Clapham Chasers)
Samantha Harrison (Notts)
Sarah Inglis (Lothian)
Lily Partridge (Birchfield)

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