Richard Kilty fears theft of spikes at indoor trials could have been sabotage

The British sprinter Richard Kilty fears he was the victim of sabotage after his racing spikes were stolen from the call room at last weekend’s indoor trials. The reigning European indoor 60m champion had to borrow a friend’s shoes, which he believes contributed to a false start in the final in Sheffield – and left him relying on the discretion of the UK Athletics selectors on Monday for a place in next month’s championships Belgrade.

“My spikes were actually stolen from the call room,” Kilty said. “I didn’t want to make any excuses for my false start at the time but literally everything was going smoothly, I headed to the call room and my spikes weren’t there. The physios tipped up every bed and bag but they weren’t there so my mind was going a million miles an hour.

“I thought I wasn’t going to be able to run. I actually had a pair that belonged to Luke Lennon Ford in the back of my car, they were a size 10, which is a size and a half too big, but I strapped them on. I was on the marks just confused and my emotions were everywhere.”

When asked whether he thought it was sabotage, Kilty replied: “Potentially, I don’t know. It’s one of those things but next time I’ll know to bring two pairs of spikes, lock them up and that’s it.”

That false start meant Kilty missed out on the two automatic places in the 60m for Belgrade. However, he looks certain to get the nod for the final discretionary spot when selectors meet on Monday after finishing ahead of his two main rivals, CJ Ujah and James Dasaolu, at the grand prix in Birmingham on Saturday – despite running with flu.

“I woke up Wednesday with cold sweats, you can probably hear it in my voice, I’m full of flu,” said Kilty, who finished third in 6.58sec, behind the American Ronnie Baker and Kim Collins from St Kitts and Nevis. “I was considering not coming and when I was warming up I could barely breathe. But I was basically told that I needed to come out here and perform. My aim was to make sure I just had to beat every other British person. I’ve done that and hopefully that will be enough.

“I think I’ll gain a tenth of a second once my illness clears up and I’m in Belgrade and rested. Now my mind is at peace.”

Kilty, who also won world indoor gold in 2014, believes he is in shape to become the first British sprinter since Jason Gardener to retain a European indoor title – which he intends to dedicate to his baby son, who is also called Richard. “All winter through training I’ve just been thinking about how much I want to bring that medal home to my little boy,” he said. “When I was feeling sick and tired that was what was getting me up.”

Kilty also revealed that his partner, the Lithuanian triple jumper Dovile Dzindzaletaite, who came second in the world junior championships in 2012, wants to compete for Britain in the future. “It’s definitely something we have talked about a lot,” he said. “And she’s far better than what we have got at the moment. No disrespect to the others but she is one of the best triple jumpers in the world at her best and I know there is a ban on switching nationality but when that changes I think British Athletics would be pleased to have her.”

Meanwhile Mo Farah has flown back to Ethiopia for another four-week block of altitude training after breaking his own British indoor 5,000m record on Saturday. Farah, whose next race is likely to be the Two Oceans half-marathon in South African over Easter weekend, said that the last indoor race of his career had been emotional. “The crowd were amazing so I can only imagine what it will be like at Stratford when I finish my career on the track in August,” he added, referring to the outdoor world championships.