Jo Pavey selected to represent Team GB in Rio

Jo Pavey will become the first British track athlete to compete in five Olympics, after being selected to represent Team GB at the Rio Olympics.

The mother-of-two threw everything she had at the chance to be selected at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam last week, running a season’s best of 31mins 34secs in the 10,000m event to make the qualifying time.

Selectors chose Pavey, 42, over 24-year-old rival Kate Avery, whose qualifying time in Amsterdam trumped Avery’s current best by 37 seconds.

Also pipped to the post was Anyika Onuora, who lost out on a 400m spot to Christine Ohuruogu, despite beating her to a gold medal at the European Championships last week.

Causing more controversy among the 80-strong GB team was the selectors’ decision not to fill the final women’s 800m position with Alison Leonard, who has run the qualifying time six times during the selection period.

Predictably, London 2012 champions Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford were all included in the team, alongside Olympic Games first-timer Dina-Asher-Smith. The 20-year-old will make her Olympic debut competing in the 200m and 4 x 100m relay events.

When Pavey competed in her first Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, little did she think she would be competing six years on. She said to The Telegraph:

“I’m absolutely thrilled. When you’re a young girl dreaming of going to the Olympics, you never think you could be going to five.

“Standing on that start line and looking up at the flame is really emotional.

“Never in my wildest dreams a few years back did I think I would be competing at the Olympics at my age.”

Chances looked slim for Pavey this spring, after a nasty chest infection left her at the bottom of her game, but her determination in Amsterdam paid off – and will now see her making Olympic history in Rio this year.

Joining Pavey on the female GB Olympic quad will be the following athletes: