GB & NI MIXED 4X400M CLINCH EURO INDOOR BRONZE IN OPENING APELDOORN ACTION

There was European mixed 4x400m bronze joy for Great Britain & Northern Ireland’s mixed 4x400m team, while Georgia Hunter-Bell (Trevor Painter, Belgrave) and Neil Gourley (Stephen Haas, Giffnock North) were among a host of impressive British qualifiers from the opening session of the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

Closing off the opening session, the quartet of Alastair Chalmers (Matt Elias, Guernsey), Josh Faulds (James Wright, Rugby & Northampton), Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet) and Lina Nielsen (Tony Lester, Shaftesbury Barnet) lined up to represent the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team in the first-ever mixed 4x400m to be hosted at the European Indoor Championships.

Led out from lane five by Chalmers, he used all of his strength to move Britain onto the shoulder of fourth place come the first handover into Emily Newnham.

Newnham took the challenge on with fierce determination, making a big move down the back straight to pull Britain into third over her opening 100m. Kicking once again off her final bend to keep Britain in bronze medal position a clean handover saw Faulds then sweep into second for Britain, with a cool head needed to keep the Netherlands’ chasing leg at bay.

Sensing leading Belgian Christian Iguacel faltering somewhat, Faulds kept his cool and form to hand into anchor Nielsen, with a clear breakaway group of four contesting the three medals.

An increasingly experienced runner in relay teams having contributed to Britain’s 4x400m Olympic bronze last summer in Paris, Nielsen opened her stride to consolidate GB & NI in third, holding the position brilliantly while closing in on eventual silver-medallists Belgium, the team’s time of 3:16.49 bringing up a first British medal of the championships.

Lead-off leg Chalmers commented: “It is a really proud feeling to start the year off and to start the competition with a bronze medal. The team is really strong this year and has really good depth. Coming into this we were pushing for that medal and everyone pulled through individually. I am really proud of the guys.”

On anchoring the team to bronze, Nielsen added: “There is just so much to think about in an indoor, 400m let alone a relay. There are just so many elbows out – I got tripped about three times on that leg and so it was just about holding space and making sure that we came home in a good medal position. That home straight was very loud with Femke [Bol] crossing the line, so it spurred me on!”

Elsewhere, and requiring top three finishes to qualify through to tomorrow’s final, the British trio of Georgia Hunter Bell, Ava Lloyd (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District) and Revee Walcott-Nolan (Thomas Dreissigacker, Luton) kicked off British interest as the women’s 1500m took centre-stage.

Fresh from a superb victory over the mile at the Millrose Games and a successful defence of her British 1500m title, top ranked European Hunter Bell produced an unerring gun-to-tape victory in the second of three qualifying heats.

Out in front from the off to stay out of any potential tangles and elbows, Hunter Bell kept the pace honest and showed little signs of relenting her lead as the race progressed. When briefly threatened by France’s Guillemot with 400m to go, Hunter Bell took charge once more by winding up the pace to take the bell still in the lead, before fending off further tilts for the front to clock 4:11.31 for the win.

Post-race, Hunter Bell said: “It’s job done – I just wanted to make sure there was no trouble when its slow people can trip over each other and bad things can happen. I had the experience in the outdoors at the Europeans when I got spiked in my Achilles, so I was like ‘if no-one is going to take it on, I will take it and just make this honest’.

On the same day she celebrated her 30^th birthday, Walcott-Nolan ensured she will join Hunter Bell in tomorrow’s showpiece final courtesy of a second-place finish in the third and final qualifying heat.

Keeping wide in lane one to give a clear view of the track in front, while fending off moves from behind, Walcott-Nolen took herself into lane two and cruised from fourth to second as the field came round with 400m to run.

Looking both strong and composed, while alert to any moves outside of her from the chasing duo of Wind (SWI) and Damink (NED), Walcott-Nolan held her second-place position to post a time of 4:14.38 and progress.

On the race, Walcott-Nolan said: “I’m happy I got through safely – there was bit of pushing, but I got out unscathed, so I’m happy with that. 

“The crowd was so good: a lap, two laps to go, everyone was screaming. Sometimes in a heat when you are running a lot slower than you are used to, you can get a bit lost, but the crowd keeps you going and you remember you are on a big stage and performing.”

British senior team debutant Lloyd led out the British team in heat one of three, with a 1:12 opening 400m from the field seeing the 19-year-old keeping in touch, and contention, as Kyriakopoulou (GRE) led through 800m with 2:21 on the clock.

Settled in sixth place with 400m and still in touch, Lloyd worked hard to stay with the lead pack of five come the bell, before the breakaway pack of six became four, with Lloyd drifting into sixth and crossing over the line in 4:18.74.

Reflecting on the experience, Lloyd said: “I’m trying to replay the race back in my mind and work out what was going on. I think I was slightly overwhelmed, but it was a great experience.

“It was completely crazy stepping out on to the track. I wasn’t even expected to be here, so to actually be here is incredible, even if I am a bit disappointed in my performance. I know I belong on the start line and another tactic is not to get as caught up in the pack as much as I did.”

The men’s equivalent followed directly after, with Neil Gourley – silver medallist at these same championships two years ago – joined by Thomas Keen (Mark Vile, Cambridge & Coleridge) in the event.

Ranked sixth in Europe this year, Gourley took to the track in the final of the three heats and soon found himself with plenty of company as those around him surged and slowed through halfway. Gourley kept to his own plan and his own running, hugging the curb and inside line to stay out of trouble and consistently find himself tucked within the front three.

Keeping a cool head among many decisive moves around him at 400m to go, Gourley used his experience to time his move wide and up through the field superbly, moving onto the shoulder of leader Pihlstrom (SWE) heading into the final 100m. Stepping on the gas and trusting his finish pace for a final time, Gourley glided to the finish to take the win and qualify fourth quickest into tomorrow’s final, clocking 3:40.25.

On the race and his successful progression, Gourley said: “From my point of view it was a little bit of a scrappy race. I wouldn’t expect anything otherwise – these indoor heats always are -so it’s just a case of being calm, waiting for my moment to move, and kind of letting some other people panic if they want to do that.

“I waited for my moment and once I moved, I felt confident that no one was going to come past me. I’m happy with my timing and position.”

Going in heat one alongside global heavyweight Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR), Keen slotted into the middle of the pack and looked to find openings to move through over the course of the opening 600m.

With the pace ramping up as the field approached 600m to go, Keen rode some bumps and jostling to come through the other side and push himself back up the field, taking the bell in fifth and eventually finishing sixth in 3:40.10.

“I’m disappointed with how I raced it – it didn’t quite go how I thought it might, which may have thrown me off a bit,” Keen reflected.

“Things happened in the race, someone came in on my inside and knocked my rhythm just as I felt I was getting into my stride – then I struggled to regain it, and my confidence.”

British indoor and outdoor champion, Daniel Goriola (Tony Jarrett, Blackheath & Bromley) marked his British senior team debut with eighth place finish in the heats of the men’s 60m hurdles, his time of 7.96 not enough to progress to the semi-finals.

At the gun, Goriola pushed to claw himself back into contention after a slight rock of hurdle one, working hard off cleaner hurdles two and three to then finish strongly and just shy of a seventh-place finish as he motored for the line.

On the experience, Goriola said: “I’m really frustrated about that performance. It is nothing like how I have been running this season. I hit the first hurdle, and it killed my race. I don’t know why or how I hit that first hurdle – I need to go back and watch it.”

“It’s frustrating those little mistakes that killed my race. It was so annoying with my family watching. To get nowhere near my PB is a real disappointment and I need to build upon this.”

Great Britain & Northern Ireland have won 1 medal following day 1 at the European Indoor Athletics Championships:

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Mixed 4x400m relay

All results from the European Indoor Athletics Championships can be viewed here, along with the event timetable.