YORK's British champion Scott Lincoln will not be competing at the European Indoor Athletics Championships next month after running out of competitions in which to achieve the qualification mark.

The City of York Athletic Club ace successfully defended his shot put title at last weekend's British Athletics Indoor Championships in Sheffield with a throw of 18.76 metres, beating Woodford's Youcef Zatat (18.22m) into second place.

However, he again fell short of the 19.80m needed to qualify for the European Indoors in Belgrade and, with no suitable events taking place this weekend, he has no more chances to hit that mark before the cut-off point.

Instead the British number one will turn his attentions to qualifying for the outdoor World Championships in August.

Coach Paul Wilson said: "There are no competitions available and we can't find anything for him. It's one of those things.

"The main target for this year, though, is the Worlds - that's the big target - and he's definitely capable of getting there."

Wilson had been optimistic that Lincoln, 23, would nail a personal best in Sheffield last weekend, having gone into it on the back of a "training PB".

But his 18.76m was less than the 18.87m he had achieved when setting a competition record at the Northern Championships in January.

His indoor PB remains the 18.90m set when winning the British crown 12 months ago, while his outdoor PB stands at 19.59m.

To qualify for the Worlds he has to nail a throw of 20.20m.

In the short-term he is hoping to be selected for a Great Britain squad which will compete at the European Throws Cup to be held in Gran Canaria in March.

"Fingers crossed he gets picked for that," added Wilson.

Meanwhile, City of York club-mate Christina Nick finished seventh in the women's shot put at the British Championships with a throw of 12.17m.

York sprinter Becky Campsall reached the semi-finals of the 60 metres, where she finished fourth in 7.56 seconds, missing out on the final.

She was due to race in the 200m the following day but withdrew due to a niggling shoulder problem.