By Paul Jones
Joe Brier will become an Olympic athlete after he replaced Matthew Hudson-Smith in the 4 x 400m relay squad in Tokyo.
Welsh athlete and Swansea Harrier Brier – who had gone with the Great Britain squad as a travelling reserve – will now get to compete at the Games after European 400m champion Hudson-Smith has pulled out of the Olympics on medical grounds.
Team GB confirmed the 26-year-old had withdrawn, although it is not Covid-19 related.
Brier, who had enjoyed an outstanding start to his season, thought his hopes of making the 4×400 relay team had gone after a disappointing performance at the Muller British Athletics Championships and Olympic trials last month.
After unexpectedly failing to qualify for the 400m final in Manchester, Brier was not in the GB team originally announced on June 29.
The 22-year-old Cardiff Met student was meant to be competing at the European Under 23 Championships earlier this month in Estonia when he was called up by Team GB as a travelling reserve for Tokyo.
BREAKING:
He’s the fastest on our cohort this year, (over 400m!) now #SportBroadcast MSc student Joe Brier moves up into the @TeamGB 4×400 Official Olympic squad.
Sending him love & luck from Wales! https://t.co/z7HGchtPc6
— SportBroadcastMSc & Sport MediaBSc (@MetBroadcast) July 24, 2021
Now, he will get his chance to compete when the athletics starts next week and becomes the second Welsh athlete in the athletics squad, alongside 1,500m runner Jake Heyward.
The upgrading of Brier – who is the brother of Welsh sprinter Hannah Brier – bring the total number of Welsh athletes competing in Tokyo to 27.
Hudson-Smith won European 400m silver at the age of 19 before going on to reach an Olympic final two years later.
Then, at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, he secured gold in the 400m and then silver in the 4x400m relay.
Full Team below:
Women
100m
Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie, Blackheath and Bromley)
Daryll Neita (Rana Reider, Cambridge)
Asha Philip (Steve Fudge, Newham and Essex Beagles)
200m
Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie, Blackheath and Bromley)
Beth Dobbin (Leon Baptiste, Edinburgh)
400m
Ama Pipi (Linford Christie, Enfield and Haringey)
Jodie Williams (Ryan Freckleton, Herts Phoenix)
Nicole Yeargin (Quincy Watts, Pitreavie)
800m
Alexandra Bell (Andrew Henderson, Pudsey & Bramley)
Keely Hodgkinson (Trevor Painter, Leigh)
Jemma Reekie (Andy Young, Kilbarchan)
1500m
Laura Muir (Andy Young, Dundee Hawkhill)
Katie Snowden (Dan Stepney, Herne Hill)
Revee Walcott-Nolan (Dale King-Clutterbuck, Luton)
5000m
Jess Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn)
Amy-Eloise Markovc (Chris Fox, Wakefield)
Eilish McColgan (Liz Nuttall, Dundee Hawkhill)
10,000m
Jess Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn)
Eilish McColgan (Liz Nuttall, Dundee Hawkhill)
Marathon
Stephanie Davis (Phillip Kissi, Clapham Chasers)
Jessica Piasecki (Robert Hawkins, Stockport)
Steph Twell (Steve Vernon, Aldershot Farnham and District)
3000m Steeplechase
Elizabeth Bird (Pat McCurry, Shaftesbury Barnet)
Aimee Pratt (Vicente Modahl, Sale Harriers Manchester)
100m Hurdles
Tiffany Porter (Jeff Porter, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)
Cindy Sember (Jeff Porter, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)
400m Hurdles
Meghan Beesley (Benke Blomkvist, Birchfield)
Jessie Knight (Marina Armstrong, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)
Jessica Turner (Nick Dakin, Amber Valley and Erewash)
High Jump
Emily Borthwick (Fuzz Caan, Wigan and District)
Morgan Lake (Fuzz Caan, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)
Pole Vault
Holly Bradshaw (Scott Simpson, Blackburn)
Long Jump
Abigail Irozuru (Aston Moore, Sale Harriers Manchester)
Jazmin Sawyers (Lance Brauman, City of Stoke)
Lorraine Ugen (Dwight Phillips, Thames Valley)
Shot Put
Sophie McKinna (Mike Winch, Great Yarmouth)
Heptathlon
Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Bertrand Valcin, Liverpool)
4x100m Relay
Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie, Blackheath and Bromley)
Beth Dobbin (Leon Baptiste, Edinburgh)
Imani-Lara Lansiquot (Steve Fudge, Sutton and District)
Daryll Neita (Rana Reider, Cambridge)
Ashleigh Nelson (Michael Afilaka, City of Stoke)
Asha Philip (Steve Fudge, Newham and Essex Beagles)
4x400m Relay
Zoey Clark (Eddie McKenna, Thames Valley)
Emily Diamond (Benke Blomkvist, Bristol and West)
Jessie Knight (Marina Armstrong, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)
Laviai Nielsen (Christine Bowmaker, Enfield and Haringey)
Ama Pipi (Linford Christie, Enfield and Haringey)
Jessica Turner (Nick Dakin, Amber Valley and Erewash)
Hannah Williams (Glyn Hawkes, Herts Phoenix)
Jodie Williams (Ryan Freckleton, Herts Phoenix)
Nicole Yeargin (Quincy Watts, Pitreavie)
Men
100m
CJ Ujah (Ryan Freckleton, Enfield and Haringey)
Zharnel Hughes (Glen Mills, Shaftesbury Barnet)
Reece Prescod (Marvin Rowe, Enfield and Haringey)
Men’s 200m
Adam Gemili (Rana Reider, Blackheath and Bromley)
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Lance Brauman, Newham and Essex Beagles)
Men’s 800m
Oliver Dustin (Graeme Mason, Border)
Elliot Giles (Jon Bigg, Birchfield)
Daniel Rowden (Matt Yates, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)
1500m
Jake Heyward (Mark Rowland, Cardiff)
Josh Kerr (Danny Mackey, Edinburgh)
Jake Wightman (Geoff Wightman, Edinburgh)
5000m
Andrew Butchart (Barry Fudge, Central)
Marc Scott (Jerry Schumacher, Richmond and Zetland)
10,000m
Sam Atkin (Mike Collins, Lincoln Wellington)
Marc Scott (Jerry Schumacher, Richmond and Zetland)
Marathon
Ben Connor (Steve Vernon, Derby)
Callum Hawkins (Robert Hawkins, Kilbarchan)
Chris Thompson (Alan Storey, Aldershot Farnham and District)
20km Race Walk
Tom Bosworth (Andi Drake, Tonbridge)
Callum Wilkinson (Rob Heffernan, Enfield and Haringey)
3000m Steeplechase
Phil Norman (Tomaz Plibersek, Woodford Green Essex Ladies)
Zak Seddon (Jeff Seddon, Bracknell)
110m Hurdles
David King (Tim O’Neil, City of Plymouth)
Andrew Pozzi (Santiago Antunez, Stratford-upon, Avon)
High Jump
Tom Gale (Denis Doyle, Team Bath)
Pole Vault
Harry Coppell (Scott Simpson, Wigan and District)
Triple Jump
Ben Williams (Aston Moore, City of Stoke)
Shot Put
Scott Lincoln (Paul Wilson, City of York)
Discus
Lawrence Okoye (Zane Duquemin / John Hillier, Croydon)
Hammer
Taylor Campbell (John Pearson, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow)
Nick Miller (Tore Gustafsson, Border)
Men’s 4x100m Relay
Jona Efoloko (Clarence Callender, Sale Harriers)
Adam Gemili (Rana Reider, Blackheath and Bromley)
Zharnel Hughes (Glen Mills, Shaftesbury Barnet)
Richard Kilty (Gateshead)
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Lance Brauman, Newham and Essex Beagles)
Reece Prescod (Marvin Rowe, Enfield and Haringey)
CJ Ujah (Ryan Freckleton, Enfield and Haringey)
Men’s 4x400m Relay
Niclas Baker (Piotr Spas, Crawley)
Cameron Chalmers (Matt Elias, Guernsey)
Michael Ohioze (Dan Tomlin, Shaftesbury Barnet)
Lee Thompson (John Henson, Sheffield and Dearne)
Joe Brier (Matt Elias, Swansea)