Games prove to be bittersweet
Team Bath Olympian Emily Diamond has described her time in Tokyo as bittersweet after finishing fifth and sixth in her relay races.
Diamond ran the third leg of the mixed 4x400m relay final and was second fastest amongst her competitors as she helped improve Team GB to fifth after starting her leg from Nicole Yeargin sixth - Yeargin already improving on Niklas Baker’s ninth before Cameron Chalmers saw GB to sixth in the end.
They finished a second behind Belgium who set a national record, as did fourth-place Netherlands and silver-medallists Dominican Republic while bronze finishers USA put on a season’s best with winners Poland setting a new Olympic Record.
The team had entered the final after finishing as one of the top losers, finishing fourth in their heat with a national record time. Diamond again took the third leg and had improved Team GB to third after Chalmers and Zoey Clark had run fourth in their opening two legs.
In the women’s 4x400m relay, Diamond opened the race for Team GB, sitting fourth before Yeargin claimed third at the end to set a season’s best and qualify for the final outright behind Jamaica and USA. The team produced another best in the final and recovered to fifth after Ama Pipi handed over to Jodie Williams in eighth, Diamond again taking the third leg.
They were under a second behind Canada and just over a second behind bronze-medallists Jamaica while Poland set a national record to claim silver behind the USA.
After her performances, Diamond said: “It was bittersweet, I think. We have such a strong team at the moment, and we knew we were in a great position to turn a place in the top three and we went out there fighting today and all of us put everything on the line.
“It’s the fastest I think we’ve run as a quartet for a few years and we can’t be too disappointed, but it would have been nice to have taken home a bit of silverware.
“Being at the Olympics has been amazing and it was exciting to be involved in both the mixed relay and the women’s relay.
“It’s been a lot of fun and it’s sad that it’s come to an end now, but only three years to Paris.”