World Athletics Championships: Team GB Miss Out On First Medal on Opening Night

Great Britain were incapable to widen their tally of planetary relay medals arsenic the mixed 4x400m squad fell abbreviated of a podium spot connected the opening nighttime of the World Athletics Championships successful Tokyo.

Team GB made the podium successful each relay lawsuit astatine the Paris 2024 Olympics, supplying 5 of the nation’s 10 athletics medals astatine past summer’s Games.

That came aft 4 relay medals were won astatine the erstwhile World Championships 2 years ago, which included metallic for the mixed 4x400m quartet connected that occasion.

In Saturday’s earlier league successful Japan, the British squad had qualified for the last with the second-fastest clip but Lewis Davey, Emily Newnham, Tony Harries and Nicole Yeargin finished 5th successful the medal race, conscionable 0.23 seconds shy of the podium successful a adjacent decorativeness down runaway winners the United States.

Team USA equalled the title grounds successful 3 minutes 08.80 seconds to instrumentality gold, with the Netherlands – anchored by hurdles prima Femke Bol – and Belgium completing the podium.

“Great Britain volition evidently travel distant disappointed. We possibly hoped they mightiness person been a small spot much successful the premix than they were,” four-time planetary heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill said connected BBC One.

“Overall it was a precise pugnacious race. The Netherlands and United States were truthful acold ahead. They were fantastic and determination were immoderate immense times ran there, truthful it was ever going to beryllium difficult.

“I bash consciousness determination is immoderate disappointment determination for Great Britain, they could’ve performed somewhat better.”

Reflecting connected his 3rd leg, Harries said: “I had a batch of enactment to do. We’re present to triumph medals, we’re GB, we’re not present to conscionable compete.

“I went retired arsenic hard arsenic I could to effort and clasp it. I conscionable didn’t person that endgame.”

Yeargin added: “I should person trusted myself and overtaken [Bol] erstwhile I could.

I astir tripped her, we clashed spikes.

“I anticipation we bash amended successful the men’s and women’s relays.”