Men take bronze as Team GB meet minimum medal target

Great Britain hit their minimum medal target of six in the last event of the world championships as they took bronze in the men's 4x400m relay.
Dwayne Cowan, Rabah Yousif, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Martyn Rooney celebrate aftwer winning bronze. Picture: AP.Dwayne Cowan, Rabah Yousif, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Martyn Rooney celebrate aftwer winning bronze. Picture: AP.
Dwayne Cowan, Rabah Yousif, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Martyn Rooney celebrate aftwer winning bronze. Picture: AP.

The British quartet of Matthew Hudson-Smith, Dwayne Cowan, Rabah Yousif and Martyn Rooney finished behind Trinidad & Tobago and the United States, with the Caribbeans stunning the Americans in the home straight to take a shock gold.

Hudson-Smith returned to the team after anchor-leg runner Rooney appeared
 to suggest that he had walked out before the semi-final 
and “needs to get his head together”.

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British Athletics always maintained that the British individual 400m champion was still involved and available for the final.

As the race developed the Britons settled into the bronze medal place and despite a flicker of a late charge from Rooney it was there that they finished, to end what has been a trying ten days at times for the home team on a positive note.

Lalonde Gordon stayed in the slipstream of Fred Kerley for most of the last lap but then pushed past the American to take the gold.

The US had not lost at the world championships since 2003, but the Americans did lose in the Olympic final at the 2012 London Games in the same stadium.

There was disappointment in the high jump for Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz, who finished sixth with a best clearance of 2.25m.

“I’m absolutely gutted. It was technically really bad,” said Grabarz. “I don’t have any excuses or reasons, it was just way below what I’m capable of. It’s not the kind of performance I should be putting in in my career at this point in a major final.

“It was definitely the last chance jumping in London like this and there aren’t going to be many more Worlds that I am going to be fit for, so it’s just such a missed opportunity.”

Mutaz Barshim won gold, with a 2.35m jump ahead of neutral Russian Daniel Lysenko

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Croatian Sandra Perkovic took discus gold with a throw of 70.31m

The evening and championship ended with a final lap of honour for the great Usain Bolt, who was given a rousing ovation around the track before being greeted by his parents near the finish line, where he kneeled, crossed himself and then performed the famous lightning bolt ­celebration.

Laura Muir represented the host nation in the ceremony which saw the IAAF flag handed over to Qatar, with the 2019 championships to be held in Doha.

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