Originally Posted by grassmarket:
“More evidence for those of us that think the British athletes are soft and pampered. By the time the European season starts in late May / early June most north American athletes have already got 3-4 decent domestic meets in their legs.”
Yeah, we have some like Laura Muir & Steph Twell who compete frequently over the course of the year but many others do seem a bit competition-shy.
They have a halfway-decent circuit of meets in the US in April & May (and they're trying to build it up during the summer months too).
It surely doesn't help our athletes that beyond our 2 big DL meets we have very few other meetings of note. There's the Bedford Games but after that it's a big drop down to British League matches and, for the distance guys/gals, the BMC Grand Prix series. France, on the other hand, has their Pro Athle Tour including 4 good international meets (Nancy/Tomblaine, Montreuil, Sotteville-Les-Rouens & Marseille) in addition to their DL meets. Then below that they have the Elite Meetings circuit including decent international meets like Herouville, Castres & Montgeron. Belgium also has a decent little circuit that quite a few of our athletes compete in. Other countries, e.g., Sweden, have an 'organised' international circuit too.
What's stopping us having a similar structure of meets that could provide good, regular international competition for our athletes in a convenient location? Is it still the tax issue for foreign athletes? The unreliable weather? Or, is it just a lack of will by British Athletics? What do you think?