If Dame Kelly Holmes is to enjoy one last hurrah at the Commonwealth Games, she will have to prove her fitness before the end of the year.
The double Olympic champion wants to end her career by defending her 1500 metres title in Melbourne in March but is one of eight athletes in an 81-strong squad named yesterday by England who will have to show they are fit enough to make the trip.
They include sprinter Abi Oyepitan and two champions from Manchester in 2002, triple jumper Ashia Hansen and 400 m hurdler Chris Rawlinson.
In using the Commonwealth rankings to pick a team of quality rather than quantity and aiming for a medal count close, if not better than the 29 achieved in Manchester, the England selectors are anxious that every athlete should be considered a potential finalist.
Chris Carter, the chairman of selectors, said: "At the Commonwealth Games, anyone who can make a final can be considered a potential medallist.
“We don’t want to take the walking wounded. This is the start of seven months of work to make sure we have the right team going to the Games. We are going to Australia to compete against the Australians. In Manchester, we beat them on medals, 29 to 28. We are going to try hard to make sure our medal count is as high as we can get it.”
A fit Holmes, who was selected for the 800 m and 1500 m, will be a vital part of that medal charge.
But she has raced only twice this summer and hobbled away from her last appearance in Sheffield last month with an Achilles tendon injury that threatened to jeopardise her hopes of a grand finale in Melbourne.
According to Janet Honour, the England team manager, however, Holmes is confident that she will be given a clean bill of health by the middle of November. Honour said: “Kelly really wants to go to Melbourne and is confident she will be okay. Some of the athletes who have been injured this year will prove their fitness during the indoor season and all will be monitored throughout the winter.”
Long jumper Jade Johnson, who won a silver medal in Manchester, hit out at athletes who want to compete for prize money in the World Indoor Championships at the beginning of March rather than go to the Commonwealth Games.
Nathan Morgan, the long jump champion in Manchester, and Nathan Douglas, the promising triple jumper, have both rejected selection for Melbourne.
Johnson, who has recovered from the back injury that sidelined her this summer, said: “I want to put all my efforts into the Commonwealth Games. The World Indoors would be more of a greed thing. When people see dollar signs, it allows them to think about that rather than the bigger picture.”
Missing from the England line-up is pole vaulter Janine Whitlock, whose appeal against a lifetime ban because of her doping conviction has yet to be heard. If her appeal is successful, she could still be selected.
ENGLAND’S COMMONWEALTH GAMES SQUAD:
Women
100m - Emma Ania
200m - Donna Fraser, Abi Oyepitan
400m - Christine Ohuruogu, Donna Fraser
800m - Kelly Holmes
1500m - Helen Clitheroe, Kelly Holmes, Lisa Dobriskey
5000m - Jo Pavey, Paula Radcliffe, Natalie Harvey
10,000m - Paula Radcliffe, Hayley Yelling, Mara Yamauchi
3000m steeplechase - Tina Brown, Jo Ankier
100m hurdles - Sarah Claxton, Diane Allahgreen, Julie Pratt
400m hurdles - Nicola Sanders, Sian Scott, Natasha Danvers-Smith
High jump - Julia Bennett, Susan Moncriffe (nee Jones)
Long jump - Jade Johnson, Kelly Sotherton
Triple jump - Nadia Williams, Ashia Hansen
Shot - Joanne Duncan, Julie Dunkley
Discus - Kara Nwidobie, Claire Smithson
Hammer - Zoe Derham, Lorraine Shaw
Javelin - Goldie Sayers, Shelley Holroyd
4x100m relay - Abi Oyepitan, Sarah Claxton, Anyika Onuora, Laura Turner, Emma Ania, Diane Allahgreen
4x400m relay - Kim Wall, Donna Fraser, Christine Ohuruogu, Nicola Sanders, Sian Scott, Natasha Danvers-Smith
Men
100m - Jason Gardener, Mark Lewis Francis
200m - Marlon Devonish, Darren Campbell, Chris Lambert
400m - Robert Tobin, Malachi Davis
1500m - Michael East, Nick McCormick, Andrew Baddeley
5000m - Mo Farah
10,000m - Gavin Thompson
3000m steeplechase - Stuart Stokes, Luke Gunn, Adam Bowden
110m hurdles - Damien Greaves, Andrew Turner, David Hughes 400m hurdles - Chris Rawlinson, Matt Douglas
High jump - Ben Challenger, Martyn Bernard, Tom Parsons
Pole vault - Nick Buckfield, Keith Higham, Steven Lewis
Long jump - Greg Rutherford, Chris Tomlinson
Triple jump - Larry Achike, Phillips Idowu
Shot - Carl Myerscough, Mark Proctor, Scott Rider
Discus - Carl Myerscough, Emeka Udechuku
Hammer - Andy Frost, Mick Jones, Simon Bown
Javelin - Nick Nieland, David Parker
4x100m relay - Craig Pickering, Mark Lewis Francis, Marlon Devonish, Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Chris Lambert
4x400m relay - Andrew Steele, Martyn Rooney, Robert Tobin, Malachi Davis, Graham Hedmam, Chris Rawlinson