Richard Kilty fears loss of spikes at Sheffield Indoor Trials may have been 'sabotage'
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 19/02/17 11:33pm
Sprinter Richard Kilty has questioned whether his attempt to defend his European Indoor Championships title was sabotaged.
The reigning 60m champion lost his spikes just before last week's final at the Indoor Trials in Sheffield and was disqualified for a false start.
At the time Kilty admitted responsibility for the start, but after coming third at the Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday he revealed the extent of his previous problems.
He is well within the qualifying time of 6.74 seconds but did not earn an automatic pick for the squad in Belgrade because he failed to finish in the top two in Sheffield.
And he wondered whether his attempt had been deliberately derailed.
"Potentially, yeah, I don't know. Next time I'll know to bring two pairs of spikes and lock them up," Kilty said, when asked if it could have been sabotage.
"This week I've been so nervous. There are a few things I didn't want to bring up last week - my spikes were stolen from the call room. I didn't want to make any excuses then because I wanted to make sure I came out here.
"Everything was going smoothly, I headed to the call room and my spikes weren't there. The physios tipped up every bed and every bag and they weren't there. My mind was going a million miles an hour and I didn't know if I was going to be able to run.
"I was thinking 'what's happening?' I'm not going to be able to defend the title. I had a Nike pair which I was giving to Luke Lennon-Ford but they were a size-and-a-half too big.
"I strapped them on and everything was running through my head. I was on the marks confused and I came out the blocks. I was confused, my emotions were everywhere."
The squad for Serbia is selected on Monday, with Kilty still expected to be included.
The 27-year-old, who also suffered with flu on Saturday, wants gold in Belgrade.
He added: "I'll gain a 10th of a second once I'm in Belgrade and my mind is rested and I can set my mind on what I need to do.
"I want that gold medal. All I've been thinking about is bringing home the medal to my little boy."
