Kilty won't defend his indoor title

The Teesside Tornado has taken the “gut-wrenching decision” to prepare for the Olympics in Rio and the outdoor season following his false start in Saturday’s semi-final of the indoor trials.

Kilty was approached by UK Athletics’ selectors on Sunday, who wanted to select him as their second athlete in the 60m alongside James Dasaolu.

Kilty, of Stockton, has opted to skip the indoor finals in Portland to prime himself for for the outdoor season as he bids to qualify for the Rio Olympics in either the 100m or 200m and the 4x100m relay.

He said: “It’s the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life, because winning the world indoor title in Sopot in 2014 changed my life. It was a gut-wrenching decision but the key thing is that I’ve won the world and the European 60m titles and now it’s time to do myself justice outdoors.

“An Olympic Games only comes around every four years and I know if I don’t do well in Rio, I’ll be 30 when Tokyo comes around. There will be other world and European indoor championships but Rio is the Olympics where I should be at my very best.”

Kilty is considered an indoor specialist, but he believes he can run much quicker than his personal best times of 10.05sec for 100m and 20.34sec for 200m.

“British Athletics coaches have told me I can not only go under ten seconds for the 100m but I have the capability to run under 9.90sec, and that’s what I am shooting for this year,” he said. “I also believe I can get under 20 seconds for the 200m.”

“In the past two years I’ve raced to get ready for the outdoor season and picked up injuries which meant I haven’t been able to do myself justice in the summer. I’m hoping with an uninterrupted preparation, I can not only help the British 4x100m relay team win a medal but also qualify for the Olympics in an individual event too.”

Selectors will now choose between Andrew Robertson, who set a PB of 6.54s at the trials, and Sean Safo-Antwi, third in the trials, to join Dasaolu in Portland.