Great Britain win silver medal in mixed 4x400m relay at World Athletics Championships in Budapest; Netherlands drop baton after looking poised for gold; GB’s Zharnel Hughes and Katarina Johnson-Thompson pushing for medals in 100m and heptathlon respectively on Sunday
Last Updated: 20/08/23 7:45am
Great Britain’s Rio Mitcham, Yemi Mary John, Laviai Nielsen and Lewis Davey won silver in the mixed 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Championships
Great Britain claimed silver in the mixed 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Championship after Netherlands’ Femke Bol stumbled shortly before the finishing line.
The British quartet of Lewis Davey, Laviai Nelson, Rio Mitcham and Yemi Mary John set a new national record of 3:11.06 to come second behind USA, who won in a world-record 3:08.80 in Budapest.
Netherlands were on course for victory only for Bol to lose her footing and drop the baton, with the Dutch team’s elimination seeing Czech Republic take third in a time of 3:11.98.
Netherlands’ Femke Bol fell over and dropped the baton with her side primed for gold in Budapest
Mitcham said of his team’s silver medal: “It means everything.
“Laviai gave us a really good pep talk in the call room on how a medal can change your life and that’s why I can’t stop smiling.”
Britain will hope for more medals in Hungary on Sunday with sprinter Zharnel Hughes – the fastest man in the world this year – a contender in the men’s 100m.
Hughes, who ran 9.83 in New York in June, won his heat in 10 seconds flat and will be joined in the semi-finals by fellow Brits Eugene Amo-Dadzie and Reece Prescod.
The semi-finals take place on Sunday afternoon with the final then held at 6.10pm UK time.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson is second in the heptathlon with three events remaining
The heptathlon also concludes with Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson second after four of the seven events as she looks to win a second World Championships gold, after triumphing in Doha in 2019.
The 30-year-old trails American Anna Hall by 93 points with the long jump, javelin and 800m to come in Budapest.
Johnson-Thompson made up ground on Hall by winning her 200m heat in 23.48 seconds.