Olympic lifeline for Louise

Grappling with a small back fracture which has hampered her year, the 30-year-old from Rotherham suffered a nightmare at the British Championships last weekend when she failed to qualify for the 200m final.

Her spirits were lifted the next morning when she was selected in the Great Britain team for next week's European Championships in Amsterdam.

Officials saw enough to believe Louise warrants a place in the 4x200m relay team and despite having to run in pain, she intends justifying their confidence.

“Being selected for the Europeans is a massive lifeline I am really grateful for,” Louise told the Advertiser. “Being a UK athlete, I've done all my rehab at Loughborough and I can't thank them enough for supporting me.

“They have seen where I've been and hopefully where I'm heading and if I can put in a solid performance at a relay camp which is coming up the end of the week and, fingers crossed, get a run-out at the Europeans then I stand in a better place to get a flight to Rio.”

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