GB athlete could have had rugby career, says coach

A man who coached Coventry athlete Jake Minshull when he played rugby, has said he it was obvious he would have been a success in whichever sport he chose.

The 21-year-old Godiva Harrier missed out on qualification for the final of the Men's 400m hurdles at the European Championships in Birmingham on Wednesday. He recently got a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Before turning to athletics, Minshull played rugby for Old Coventrians and was coached by Richard Allsopp.

"I'm super proud of Jake because he's a really likeable lad, he's really humble and he trains really hard and it's not really any surprise he's achieved, because I just think he's one of these lads".

Minshull started out playing rugby for his father's team, Old Coventrians, joining the junior section when he was six-years-old.

Jason Minshull played 86 games as a back for Coventry RFC, before playing for Birmingham Solihull and Nuneaton and Allsopp said Minshull junior could easily have followed in his father's footsteps.

"He was absolutely fantastic and had great ball skills. But one thing that was really clear was his pace. His pace was amazing. He was just so quick.

"Jake comes from a very sporty family, where obviously dad's an accomplished rugby player, mum's a runner, sister's a runner, so he's from a super sporty family."

When the younger Minshull was playing rugby, he caught the eyes of scouts at Wasps, the Premiership team that had moved to Coventry, before going bust in 2022.

"He was in the academy. They picked him straight away. so he was on a really elevated position in terms of advancement in rugby and obviously he chose athletics but I think he would have done really well in any of those fields"

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.