Grice disappointed after losing appeal over non-selection (From The Argus)

Grice disappointed after losing appeal over non-selection

1:48pm Wednesday 20th February 2013 in Sport By Steve Hollis

Charlie Grice has lost his appeal against the decision not to select him for the European Indoor Championships.

Grice asked for British Athletics to reconsider their decision to omit him for the squad for Gothenburg despite running the qualifying time.

But the sport's governing body today stuck by its hardline approach not to select anybody in the men's 1,500m because they did not consider them capable of finishing in the top six in Sweden.

Grice, from Brighton, set a new lifetime best of 3min.41.54sec at the British Athletics Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday. That was under the qualifying time of 3min.42sec but the Phoenix prospect did not earn an automatic pick as he finished outside the top two at the trials the previous weekend.

Grice tweeted: "Very disappointed that our governing body cannot give me the experience that I need of running at a major senior champs.

"I have a great team around me and will bounce back. The goal is Rio 2016 but it's a shame that barriers are being put in the way."

The decision of head coach Peter Eriksson has been heavily criticised by the likes of Sally Gunnell and Paula Radcliffe.