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British Athletics' Neil Black defends World Relay no-shows

By , Staff Reporter
British Athletics performance director Neil Black defends the sprinters who did not compete at the IAAF World Relay Championships in the Bahamas.

British Athletics performance director Neil Black has defended the sprinters who decided against competing at the IAAF World Relay Championships in the Bahamas at the weekend.

The men's 4x100m team failed to seal early qualification to the Rio 2016 Olympics, and Richard Kilty, who performed, admitted that he was "let down" by the no-shows.

Adam Gemili, Chijindu Ujah and James Dasaolu are among the athletes who were absent, reasons being various minor injuries and university exams.

"That one event will be forgotten in a few weeks' time and there's loads of time to qualify," BBC Sport quotes Black as saying. "Our focus is towards the World Championships in Beijing, it's towards the Olympics in Rio."

The team failed to make the A final after finishing ninth in the heats, but the women's 4x400m and 4x100m teams, as well as the men's 4x400m team, did qualify.

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Asha Philip, Bianca Williams, Jodie Williams, Ashleigh Nelson of England celebrate winning bronze in the Women's 4 x 100m Relay Final at Hampden Park during day ten of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games on August 2, 2014
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