Pete Matthews will be forced to hand back his Great Britain kit when he returns from Portugal as “he is not good enough”, the Lufbra Echo can reveal. The Blackburn man was awarded the honour “in error” according to UKA insiders. Our source said, “the truth is that over the course of the last couple of years, Pete has simply not achieved enough. It is embarrassing to see him wander around Loughborough in it and so we are going to ask for it back.” Ian Stewart, UKA’s Endurance Director refused to take responsibility for the gaffe, instead arguing that the vest was handed out under a different administration. Speaking from Monte Carlo, Stewart said, “we are toughening everything up now. [International] vests will only be handed out for worthy athletes from now on.” It is not known whether Matthews’ name will be expunged from the record books, but UKA chiefs said they were “ruling nothing out”.
This news comes at the end of a difficult week for the now former GB International. In an ill-fated attempt to win a 2km rep at the start of a track session, Matthews badly damaged his Achilles tendon and could be out for “some days” according to Loughborough insiders. Then today, labelled a ‘key tanning day’ by the red head, he lost valuable ground to Seb Foy in the Loughborough Tanning Championships. “Foy’s flying at the moment,” said an observer, “he lost track of time this afternoon and so lay in the sun for over four hours.”
UKA have refused to rule out demanding the return of other international vests stretching as far back as 1990. It is rumoured that a letter will be despatched to Paula Radcliffe asking for her Olympic vests from Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 to be sent back to the BOA. A well-placed source said, “these vests should mean something and when I see Paula in the local supermarket wearing the Athens tracksuit it brings back horrible memories.”