Guy Learmonth calls out ‘new faces, same BS’ after being left out of Britain’s indoor team

Guy Learmonth has hit out over “new faces, same bs” following his exclusion from the British team at a home World Championships in Glasgow next week and suggested that he would now retire from indoor athletics.

The 31-year-old Scot, who finished sixth at the European Indoor Championships last year and is a multiple national champion, missed automatic selection by the most agonising of margins at the national championships in Birmingham on Sunday.

He finished second in the 800 metres on a photo finish by 1/1,000th of a second to Jack Higgins after leading for most of the race despite suffering from a “stinking cold” and a minor hamstring injury in the build-up.

Learmonth could still have been provisionally selected by virtue of his world ranking but, despite Higgins being ineligible due to not having a high enough world ranking himself, selectors will go to Glasgow without any men’s representative in the event.

Learmonth’s possible inclusion via a world ranking invitation was highlighted on the social media platform X on Thursday, to which he posted a series of replies.

“I was highly ranked but let’s just say I didn’t decline my invite,” Learmonth said. “Usual nonsense. They all suck. For the record too… got told my appeal had to be done by Tuesday when phone calls only came in today [Thursday] about invites so make that make sense. This sport will never change, ever. I’m done. New faces, same bs.”

The selection policy at British Athletics also came under fire ahead of the World Outdoor Athletics Championships last summer from athletes who were eligible according to their world rankings but did not meet the standards that were set by the domestic governing body.

British Athletics says that the policy is not linked to its financial crisis but designed to focus on athletes with the potential to at least reach finals – and the team did return from Budapest last August with their best medal haul since 1993.

For next week’s World Indoor Championships, the selection policy’s stated aim is to “optimise medal success and the number of top-eight finishes as the host nation”.

In the initial team selection on Monday, just six male athletes were included in a 21-strong team that has already been diluted by the absence of people focusing their preparations on the Paris Olympics.

The size of the British team will increase after World Athletics made further invitations on Thursday according to their world rankings but Learmonth is not among those deemed to meet British Athletics’ own selection criteria.

Learmonth has been in good form this indoor season, posting a time of 1min 46.80sec this month, which is the best by a Briton and over a second faster than he ran in the national championships, and 32nd in the world.

In the context of an invitation via world rankings, the British selection policy states that “athletes must have a performance level that, in the sole discretion of the panel, meets the stated aims of the policy – to contribute to medal success or finish in the top eight”.

After Sunday’s narrow national championships defeat, Learmonth said: “I was hoping to end my indoor career in Glasgow, to be honest – things are going amazing – just the last two weeks have been rough. The timing has been awful.”

Athletes who are being selected subject to their world rankings were informed on Monday morning when the team was announced. Those who were not informed had until 10am on Tuesday to appeal. It is understood that Learmonth did not appeal his non-selection by that time.

It is also possible for athletes to qualify automatically via a selection time but Learmonth’s indoor and outdoor best in the period is 0.80sec outside World Athletics’ respective 1min 46.00sec and 1min 44.00sec standard.