By Owen Morgan
Welsh distance athlete Rosie Edwards has been selected to represent Great Britain at this summer’s European Athletics Championships.
Edwards is amongst the first set of 10 GB athletes confirmed to compete in the marathon in Munich.
The US-based athlete, who spent much of her formative years in Llanelli, ran the European qualifying time at last year’s British Olympic Marathon Trials.
This will be Edwards’ first GB vest and her selection follows Swansea Harrier Josh Griffiths being named to represent Britain at the World Athletics Championships, which are also being held this summer.
🌟 Congratulations to Rosie Edwards who has been selected for the European Championships this summer! 🌟
This is Rosie's first GB&NI vest!
To find out more ➡️ https://t.co/AfcmPjbFrL
📸 Paul Stillman pic.twitter.com/UCiF0NInB5
— Welsh Athletics (@WelshAthletics) April 8, 2022
Rotherham AC member Edwards has been based in the United States since heading across the Atlantic to study at Butler University in Indianapolis.
In 2016 Edwards relocated to Boulder, Colorado, where she has enjoyed the benefits of training at a higher altitude.
The 33-year-old, who represented Wales at the Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in 2018, ran a 10-mile personal best of 54:48 in the Cherry Blossom 10 in Washington DC at the start of this month.
Edwards is also one of five female Welsh athletes who have achieved the nomination standard for this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – the others being Natasha Cockram, Clara Evans, Emma Kearney and Anna Bracegirdle.
Several British athletes have achieved qualifying standards for the three major championships and games this summer, so athletes and their coaches made performance decisions on which event to prioritise. Those announced for Munich had chosen the European Championships.
Last month GB announced five athletes for the marathon at the World Athletics Championships, therefore as per policy, those athletes were ineligible to compete at the Championships in Munich.
Over the next few months, home nation Commonwealth Games teams will be confirming their marathon selections where they will name athletes that have prioritised that competition ahead of the European Championships.
Following the ratification process operated by each home nation, selections across all the summer championships will be finalised and confirmed.
Olympic head coach, Christian Malcolm, said: “It has been really pleasing to see so many marathon athletes run inside the qualifying standards for major championships and games this summer.
“Competitiveness for places has been high and that is really encouraging for the event in the UK. As a result, athletes have had to make performance decisions on which championships they focus on this season, and we support them in their decisions.
“We have a good mixture of athletes in this European marathon squad, and it has been great to see a number of athletes who have excelled in their first marathons.
“We have several GB & NI internationals in the team and also some earning their first ever British vest, so it is a proud moment for all the athletes, their coaches and their support teams.”
The rest of the track and field selections for the European Athletics Championships will take place in August 2022.
The first British marathon athletes selected for the European Athletics Championships in Munich this August (15-21):
Senior Women
Becky Briggs (Geoff Watkin, City of Hull)
Rosie Edwards (Robert Hawkins, Rotherham)
Naomi Mitchell (Nick Anderson, Reading)
Alice Wright (Ben Rosario, Worcester)
Senior men
Mohamud Aadan (Paul Oppe, Thames Valley)
Luke Caldwell (Dorking & Mole Valley)
Ben Connor (Steve Vernon, Derby)
Andrew Heyes (Mara Yamauchi, Hallamshire)
Ross Millington (Steve Vernon, Stockport)
Philip Sesemann (Andrew Henderson, Leeds City).