Olympic athletics: Great Britain's women take 4x100m relay silver and men secure 4x100m bronze (2024)

Published

9 August 2024

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Great Britain's women claimed Olympic 4x100m relay silver before the men's team took bronze in two thrilling races at a rain-sodden Stade de France.

Dina Asher-Smith, Imani Lansiquot, Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita had two tricky changeovers as the rain fell in Paris but Neita was superb on the anchor leg.

She almost overhauled 100m silver medallist Sha'Carri Richardson down the final straight, but the American crossed first in 41.78 seconds.

Britain clocked 41.85secs, with Germany third in 41.97.

Zharnel Hughes then starred for the men on the anchor leg, securing bronze alongside Jeremiah Azu, Louie Hinchliffe and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.

The United States - without 100m champion Noah Lyles, who contracted Covid-19 earlier in the week - were disqualified for a faulty first changeover.

The women's relay silver will be particularly sweet for Neita and Asher-Smith, who missed out on individual medals by narrow margins earlier in the Games.

Neita was four-hundredths of a second off the 100m podium in fourth and both she and Asher-Smith were within three-hundredths of a second of a 200m medal.

However, both ran superb legs in the relay, with Asher-Smith reaching Lansiquot first, and Neita coming so close to chasing down Richardson after a messy handover between her and Hunt.

The American, one of the sport's most engaging athletes, had a quick glance to her right to see the approaching Neita, before finding an extra burst to cross the line in a season's best time.

Britain were given a warning for a first lane infringement but, having avoided repeating it, were able to keep their medal.

"I just pushed for home. I was not going to let these ladies down," Neita told BBC Sport afterwards.

"For us to be leaving here with a silver medal at the Olympic Games - we're going on the podium, we're representing Team GB and we're just so proud."

Asher-Smith also paid tribute to Bianca Williams and Desiree Henry, who ran in the heats and will also receive medals on the podium.

"This is truly an effort, not just us four here and the two ladies that ran in the heats," she added.

"We worked so hard as a women's squad when we didn't make that Olympic Games in 2012 and for the last 10 years we've been pushing because we know that we're this good."

The women's team stayed trackside to roar on the men, who faced a difficult task against heavy-hitters the United States.

And just as Neita had done, Hughes put in an exceptional final 25 metres, having suffered his own disappointments this week.

He failed to reach the 100m final, finishing sixth in his semi-final, and subsequently withdrew from the 200m heats with hamstring tightness.

"My hamstring is heavily strapped but I came out with determination in my heart," Hughes told BBC Sport.

"I told the guys before we left the hotel 'hey, I'm going to do my very best to get us on the podium, and you guys do your bit'.

"They did that – they got me the baton and I ran my heart out."

Canada took victory in a season's best 37.50, with South Africa second in 37.57 and Britain third with 37.61.

Hughes was part of the GB team that won relay silver in Tokyo three years ago, but they were later stripped of their medals after CJ Ujah tested positive for two banned substances.

Ujah was cleared of intentionally taking prohibited drugs but banned for 22 months.

The US will be left to rue their first changeover, with Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek essentially running into one another as they attempted to pass the baton.

They were later disqualified - meaning they have not won an Olympic title in an event that they previously dominated since 2000, or even a medal since 2004.

Nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis was heavily critical of the team in a post on X, calling the result "completely unacceptable".

Coleman defended his team-mates after the race, saying they had "practised a lot".

"We're all human beings too and we've been through ups and downs in life, this is another of those," he said.

"This is a part of the sport. This is a risk-reward type of thing. We do it on the biggest stage."

Despite the men's disappointment, the US have dominated the track and field events.

They have won 29 medals alone in the athletics, including 11 golds - with Canada next best with three golds out of four medals.

The US will also be the favourites in the men's and women's 4x400m relays, which take place on Saturday.

Rai Benjamin added to the tally with a stunning 400m hurdles gold, running a season's best 46.46 seconds to beat Norway's all-conquering Karsten Warholm.

Elsewhere, Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke narrowly missed out on a medal on her Olympic debut, finishing fourth in the 400m.

Britain's Amber Anning was fifth, setting a new national record of 49.29 seconds, as Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic set an Olympic record of 48.17secs to take gold.

Kenya's Beatrice Chebet added 10,000m gold to her 5,000m crown in Paris, winning in 30 minutes 43.25 seconds.

Italy's Nadia Battocletti took silver while Sifan Hassan, who won gold in the discipline in Tokyo, was third.

Team GB's Eilish McColgan, who was unable to run for six months after having knee surgery at the end of 2023, was 15th, with fellow Scot Megan Keith 23rd.

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