Gemili left gutted as he exits in false start

AFTER the party came the hangover as the sprint stars of Britain’s World Championships relay teams suffered at the Diamond League meet in Birmingham. Adam Gemili had the worst of it, false-starting in the 100metres and trudging off the track in anger. It continued a rotten relationship between the sprinter and the Alexander Stadium, the site of a torn hamstring in 2016 and where he failed to gain individual qualification for the 200m at the World Championships earlier this summer. Since then, he has been an impressive part of the 4x100m team that won in London, but this race was earmarked by the 23-year-old as a chance to re-establish his place among British sprinters. On that basis, he failed, with his relay team-mate CJ Ujah leading the all-Brit field in 10.08sec from James Dasaolu. ‘I didn’t feel like I falsestarted,’ said Gemili. ‘It’s just absolutely gutting. This was my redemption race to show everyone that I am in good shape and back running fast.’ There was also disappointment for Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who won relay gold but was fifth in the 200m here in 20.46sec. World champion Ramil Guliyev crossed in first. Mitchell-Blake said: ‘I just have to learn from it going forward.’ Dina Asher-Smith, who took silver in the 4x100m relay, was fifth in the 100m, won by Jamaica’s Olympic champion Elaine Thompson. Holly Bradshaw was second in the pole vault, while Jake Wightman won the mile and Dwayne Cowan claimed the 400m with a personal best of 45.34sec.