By Owen Morgan
Two of Wales’ most successful athletes have been selected to represent Great Britain at next month’s World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat.
Heather Lewis and Bethan Davies have dominated women’s race walking in Britain for a number of years.
Last weekend, Lewis won the 10,000m title at the England Athletics Winter Race Walking Championships in 46:47.6 with Davies finishing second in 48:17.8.
The next fastest athlete finished almost three-and-a-half seconds behind the Welsh pair.
The future also looks promising for Welsh race walking with Lewis’s Pembrokeshire team mate Grace Griffiths finishing second in the senior 5,000m race setting a new Welsh Under-17 record of 25:38.
Race Walker&’18 Commonwealth Games Bronze🏅Bethan Davies has just been selected for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships next month.
She’ll be joined by Heather Lewis, who recently won the England Athletics Winter 10km.
Press release here➡️https://t.co/UhX23R4lLx pic.twitter.com/oYO3Q5j3jj— @welshathletics (@WelshAthletics) February 10, 2022
Both Lewis and Cardiff’s Davies have also achieved the nomination standard to represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games over 10,000m in Birmingham this summer.
Davies won bronze for Wales at the last Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, while Lewis finished seventh.
The multiple Welsh and British champions’ exploits have earned them both a place on the five strong Great Britain team which will head to Oman for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships between March 4 and 5.
Lewis and Davies will line-up in the senior women’s 20km race. Lewis topped the UK rankings over the distance in 2021 following her PB of 94:13 which she set in Podebrady in the Czech Republic last May.
They will be joined on the GB team by the British 20km record holder Tom Bosworth (Tonbridge), and Cameron Corbishley (Medway and Maidstone) who will contest the 20km distance at the event.
Dominic King (Colchester) will compete over the new 35km distance which replaces the 50km race walk in the international programme.
Walking tall again…@Beth_Davies7
is back on track for @TeamWales, @WelshAthletics and @sportwales. @owenmogs77 reports.
👇
Bethan Davies . . . Walking The Walk And Talking The Talk About Commonwealth Games Ambitions https://t.co/pmqGdIgy5v via @Dai_Sport_— Dai Sport (@Dai_Sport_) August 20, 2021
Team Leader, Andrew Shaw, said: “We are pleased to be selecting these five athletes to compete at the Championship in Muscat.
“The event will provide a great opportunity for our race walkers to take on the world’s best early in the year, so we are looking forward to seeing how they perform next month.”
The British team for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, Oman on 4-5 March 2022:
Senior Men 20km:
Tom Bosworth (Andi Drake, Tonbridge)
Cameron Corbishley (Andi Drake, Medway & Maidstone)
Senior Women 20km:
Bethan Davies (Andi Drake, Cardiff)
Heather Lewis (Martin Bell, Pembrokeshire)
Senior Men 35km Race:
Dominic King (George Nibre, Colchester).