GB & NI SECURE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPOTS ON CRUCIAL FIRST DAY AT WORLD ATHLETICS RELAYS

Rain poured down on the first day of competition at the World Relays in China, where four Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams secured qualification spots for the World Championships later this year in Tokyo.

The evening opened with the new mixed 4x100m event, where the GB & NI team secured their spot in the final. This was followed by a strong performance from the mixed 4x400m and 4x400m men, and both the men’s and women’s 4x100m teams finished in the top two of their heats. Only the women’s 4x400m relay team narrowly missed out, finishing a close third. They were unable to secure the World Championship spot and go again on Sunday in the repechage.

The 4x100m mixed event kicked off the evening, making its debut at these championships. Despite the slight delay to the opening race, it didn’t phase Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Ryan Freckleton, Harrow) on her international debut, who ran a solid bend to hand over to fellow debutant Kissiwaa Mensah (Prince Duwai, Chelmsford). She smoothly handed it to Jeriel Quainoo (Ryan Feckleton, Blackheath and Bromley), who held his own to hand over to Joe Ferguson (Richard Kilty, Sheffield & Dearne), who ran with the Jamaicans to the line to finish in a close second 41.05 to progress to the final.

Jeriel Quainoo reflected on the experience of the new event; “That was really good, we have been practicing (handover) a lot really trying to nail that second to third exchange as that is really crucial exchange. It is easier from girl to girl and boy to boy but second to third from girl to guy is a bit difficult. But throughout the training camps and the camp in Hong Kong we were able to display our best exchanges throughout collectively in the race.”

Next up, a fresh face 4x400m mixed relay team with 400m hurdle specialist Josh Faulds (James Wright, Rugby & Northampton) putting the team in a good position in second on the opening leg, handing over the baton to Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet), who calmly ran to the front on the second leg, to hand over to 19-year-old debutant Sam Lunt (James Wright, Wirral). The North West 400m hurdler ran ahead, inspired by advice from his Grandad earlier in the day. He handed over the baton to experienced relay runner Nicole Yeargin (Vince Anderson, Pitreavie), who held her line strong as the South African tried to get the better of her; she pulled away in the last 200m to bring home the win – finishing with a season best of 3:13.28.

Sam Lunt shared the wise words his Grandad said to him before the race; “ ‘Sam run for your life!’ That’s what I did. I got out and I felt no one around me. It’s a bit of a weird sort of situation. I was expecting to find myself maybe more in the mix, so it was even better where I found myself. It was a good learning experience, hopefully I have made my Grandad proud out there.”

As the rain held off for the third race of the evening, the women’s 4x100m, an experienced and determined GB & NI relay team, stepped into the blocks for the first heat. Asha Philip (Amy Deem, Newham and Essex Beagles) blasted out of the blocks to hand over to Amy Hunt who chased down the French on the back straight, where Bianca Williams (Linford Christie, Thames Valley) took the lead, giving Desiree Henry (Linford Christie, Enfield & Harringey) a good lead, who was chased down by Belgium runner to claim second place, securing the team a qualification spot for the World Championships later this year.

Reflecting on the race, Bianca Williams said; “It was good, we’ve come out to qualify and get the automatic qualification. That’s what we did. We got the job done, so we just need to get ready for tomorrow’s final.”

Next up was the men’s squad, who spectacularly opened the first heat. Romell Glave (Michael Afilaka, Croydon) got out of the blocks to hand over to Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (Ryan Freckleton, Newham and Essex Beagles), who stormed down the back straight. A clean handover to Jona Efoloko (Ryan Freckleton, Sale Harriers Manchester), who gave a brilliant lead for Eugene Amo-Dadzie (Steve Fudge, Woodford Green Essex Ladies), ran well ahead of his competitors to confirm they are the team to watch out for – finishing time of 38.18.

Jona Efoloko shared how the team have been working hard on the handovers; “We have been in Hong Kong for training camp and at the training camp the three sessions we had were immaculate. I had all trust and faith in these guys, Nethaneel kept saying we are the best drilled team and I think we proved it out there and there is more to come tomorrow.”

It was a stacked heat for the women’s 4x400m relay race. Victoria Ohuruogu (Newham and Essex Beagles) had a tough opening leg handing the baton over to Hannah Kelly (Les Hall, Bolton), who battled with the Brazilians to get in a good position. Team Captain Lina Nielsen (Tony Lester, Shaftesbury Barnet) took the baton, closing the gap from the front pack and handing it over to sister Laviai Nielsen (Tony Lester, Enfield & Harringey), who unfortunately couldn’t quite make the space as the Italian and Belgium edged ahead to take the top two spots. They ran 3:27.47 and narrowly missed out in the fastest qualifier spot to Canada on 3:27.28. The team will compete in the repechage tomorrow, with the aim of finishing in the top three to secure qualification.

Laviai reflected on the race; “It was tough out there. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy one for us. We each had a role. We spoke to our team coach about what to do and tried to execute that as best as we could. It wasn’t quite enough for the auto qualification.”

Rounding off the first day of action, the men’s 4x400m relay team finished a close second to secure their qualification spot for the World Championships. Efe Okoro (Felipe Siqueria, Birchfield Harriers) opened the race, safely handing the baton to Toby Harries (David Sadkin, Brighton Pheonix), who raced down the first bend, closing space between him and the Italian, Qatari and Belgium, giving Rio Mitcham (Leon Baptiste, Birchfield Harriers) a great start. The Birchfield Harrier kept up with the pack, overtaking the Italian on the back straight, handing the baton alongside Belgium and Qatari to give Charlie Dobson (Leon Baptiste, Colchester) a good run out to take the lead. Charlie had a challenge on his hands with the Quatai trying to edge in, but he held firm and finished on the line with Belgium to finish second with a season’s best of 3:01.38 and that World Qualification spot.

After battling with injury over the last year, Mitcham shared how much he enjoyed returning to the World stage; “It’s good fun, you know? It was great fun. I personally have had really rough year and a half so being back on the track with the boys it felt really good. I’m happy with it.”

The finals are scheduled for Sunday night in Guangzhou. Full results from today and Sunday night’s timetable are available here.