OLYMPIC trials 10,000m surprise winner Jess Andrews nearly pipped Andrew Butchart in the ‘breakthrough’ category of the AW readers’ athletes of 2016 vote (see p20-23) after her husband Dan Martin gave her a helping hand on social media.
Andrews was a superb winner over 25 laps at the Highgate Night of the 10,000m PBs in May, but had her work cut out to beat Olympic 5000m sixth-placer Butchart. Martin, though, who she married earlier this winter, is a Tour de France cyclist with Etixx-Quickstep team and has almost 100,000 followers on Twitter.
“Go on, give her a vote,” he tweeted last week, encouraging people to vote online for his wife. Their efforts nearly worked, too, as the 10,000m runner – who will be known in future races as Jess Martin – finished 1.7% behind the Scottish distance runner.