A HOOK athlete has been selected to represent Team England at the Commonwealth Games that starts in Birmingham next month.

Ben Pattison, who is part of the Basingstoke and Mid Hants Athletic Club, will compete in 800m race for Team England at the Games.

He confirmed his place in the squad after reaching national second rank this season following a club-record run of 1:45.16 at the Sollentuna Grand Prix held in Sweden last weekend.

Basingstoke athletes Thomas Staines and Reece Sharman-Newell were also in contention for the CWG spot.

Team England has announced 72 athletes to represent the home nation at the Games.

The team consists of athletes including British record breaker and current world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, fellow world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Tokyo Olympic 800m silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson and current European 400m champion and British record holder Matthew Hudson-Smith.

The games will be held from July 28 to August 8.

The athletics competition schedule gets underway on Saturday, July 30, with the marathon across Birmingham’s city centre and surrounding areas, with the track and field athletes competing in the Alexander Stadium from Tuesday, August 2 to Sunday, August 7.

There are 59 medal events in total including a fully integrated para sport programme. The track events span from 100m sprint to 10,000m, while the field events include javelin, hammer, the discus and the shot. The programme also includes long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, as well as multi-event decathlon and heptathlon events.

This summer, Team England will comprise of over 400 athletes in total.

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