Euro Team Champs blow for Meadows and Ohuruogu

European Team Championships
Venue: Bergen, Norway Date: 19-20 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two and BBC Sport website (UK only) - Sat 1645-1900 BST, Sun 1415-1710 BST; Updates on BBC Radio 5 live. Details of BBC coverage

Ohuruogu has endured a difficult start to the season

Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu and Jenny Meadows have both been forced out of this weekend's European Team Championships in Bergen with injury.

Ohuruogu, who has struggled to produce her best this season, is suffering from a tight quadricep muscle, while Meadows is nursing a sore Achilles.

Nicola Sanders, due to run the individual 400m, will now also concentrate solely on the 4x400m relay.

All three athletes are expected to be fit for the GB Trials on 25-27 June.

Meadows will be replaced by Emma Jackson, with Sanders' place in the individual 400m going to Kim Wall.

In the men's line-up, Richard Buck comes in for Robert Tobin in the 400m, while James Ellington will be replaced by Rikki Fifton in the men's 4 x 100m.

Sanders has had a disrupted career since finishing second behind Ohuruogu at the 2007 World Championships, missing out on a place in both the Olympic final and the 2009 World Championships.

World heptathlon champion Jess Ennis has turned down the chance to compete in Bergen, with the event sandwiched between the recent Diamond League meeting in New York (where she took part in a three-event challenge) and the GB Trials.

Ennis told the BBC: "I would have loved to have competed, but it wouldn't have worked out well - I would have gone to the Trials tired. It would be a bit too much, and I want to be fresh for the Trials."

Martyn Rooney, selected for the men's 400m, is hoping he can produce a repeat of his previous form at the event.

At the European Cup two years ago in Annecy, Rooney won his individual event and then steered the relay team to second place, which guided the GB team to overall victory.

He said: "We are one of the best teams in Europe and if we also come together we know that we can win. We have to be sensible and not just go out and run quick. We have to go out and win the races.

"I had a really successful champs two years ago. When we collected our medals everyone was together and celebrating. I haven't felt like that for years - the collective desire of everyone wanting to win, as normally we are out competing for ourselves."

The European Team Championships replaced the old Europa Cup in 2009, and sees athletes compete to pick up points for their respective countries.

Team scores are calculated by combination of men and women's points, rather than the previous system of individual male and female competitions.