British decathlete on the brink of missing out on this summer’s Rio Olympics thanks to bungling airline losing his vaulting poles
Ashley Bryant must keep fingers crossed he can still make it to Games via further qualifying events or British Athletics call
GREAT BRITISH decathlete Ashley Bryant is on the verge of missing out on the 2016 Olympic Games.
But it’s not poor performance or a lack of form that is the spanner in the works ahead of Rio.
In fact, it was a bungling airline who lost his vaulting poles, forcing the Brit ace, 25, to borrow spares at last week’s Hypo Meeting in Gotzis.
After Swiss Air misplaced the athlete’s poles, Bryant was made to use rental poles — ultimately falling 30cms short of his personal best.
On top of the that, he missed out on the qualifying standard by an agonisingly close 44 points.
Bryant will now need to travel around the globe hunting for more qualifying events in his bid to make it to Brazil this summer.
And the Brit star failed to hide his frustration, saying: “It’s an incredibly frustrating situation.
“We checked the plane we were going to take would take poles. We got to the airport and they said: ‘These aren’t going to make the flight. The next day there’s a larger plane’.
“But Sunday came and my poles were not there. I managed to borrow some off a Swedish athlete but they’re not the same poles I’ve trained on.
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“I have different poles from the ones which are applicable to a lot of the other guys.”
“I’m now left chasing qualification events.
“And I have to sit down with my coach to decide where we go next.”
Swiss Air claim they have now reunited Bryant with his poles — as the Londoner chases the qualifying target of 8,100 points, having amassed 8,056 in Austria last week.
There is some good news for Bryant however, as his overall decathlon personal best score of 8,141 points means British Athletics may still allow him to qualify, and his case will be treated seriously.
A spokesperson said: “We are aware of the difficulties Ashley has faced and we will look at this as an individual case.”