Magnificent Martyn brings home relay bronze for his newborn son
MARTYN Rooney was determined to make missing the birth of his first child to compete in Beijing worthwhile and he certainly did, clinching a bronze medal by the thickness of his team vest.
He then joked about naming his son after footballer Wayne. ‘That’s a great name but we haven’t decided yet, I’m thinking Bird’s Nest,’ he said after the final event of nine days’ competition inside this magnificent stadium.
Rooney, on the anchor leg of the 4x400 metres, dipped on the line to beat Jamaica’s 20- year- old sensation Javon Francis into fourth, with both teams recording an identical 2min 58.51sec time. ‘I knew I’d got him on the line,’ said Rooney. ‘He was there for the taking and I took him.’
The USA won their sixth gold of the championships, ahead of Trinidad and Tobago. But it was Great Britain captain Rooney who was the most expressive, beating his chest with the baton and screaming in delight.
‘I can take a medal home to my baby,’ he said. ‘ I’m desperate to get back there now, I don’t know it as my son yet, it’s still “it”. I’ve seen pictures of it but I can’t wait to meet him and hold him.’
Wife Kate, a former international pole vaulter, gave birth to their son, weighing 8lb 3oz, on Thursday. ‘I’ve spoken to her loads,’ said Rooney, ‘I can’t stop talking to her on the phone. I keep checking on her and the baby. But she’s doing really well, she went to Tesco the day after giving birth. She’s an amazing woman and I’m very lucky to have her as my wife and the mother of my child.’
Rooney, 28, was full of praise for his team-mates Rabah Yousif, who ran a superb first leg, Delano Williams and Jarryd Dunn. ‘ The first two legs were amazing, world class, myself and Jarryd just had to finish it off,’ he added.
‘It would’ve been horrific to have crossed the line and not got bronze, the amount of fourth places we’ve had over the years. But this is a new squad, so maybe it’s a new era and hopefully we can win lots of medals.’
The British women’s 4x400m team also clinched a surprise bronze with a masterclass in consistency as Jamaica shocked the USA by taking gold.
All four Britons recorded split times within half a second of each other as they crossed the line third in 3:23.62. Wales’s Seren Bundy-Davies ran the anchor leg and was embraced by team-mates Christine Ohuruogu, Anyika Onuora and Eilidh Child. The quartet then did a lap of honour arm in arm round the stadium.
Their joy was in stark contrast to the previous evening when the British men’s 4x100m team effectively threw away a silver medal when James Ellington failed to get the baton to Chijindu Ujah on the last leg.
Ellington and Richard Kilty angrily blamed a ‘chaotic’ coaching structure and Ujah coming into the team at the last minute.
‘We’re going out in a team which is brand new and inexperienced,’ said Kilty, ‘We’re trying different things all the time. That’s not the way forward. We could have won a medal with (female sprinter) Dina Asher-Smith on the last leg.’
Kilty and Ellington only receive relay funding from the National Lottery, meaning their support is based on performances, and they implied others may not be taking the event as seriously. Ujah, along with Adam Gemili, who is injured, receives full funding.
Darren Campbell, Olympic relay champion in Athens in 2004, suggested that the funding should be cut, saying: ‘ If they’re not performing and they’re not delivering then maybe it’s time to take away some of the funding.
‘In 1996 we didn’t practise. I was there as just part of the relay team. They had the likes of Linford Christie, Colin Jackson, Tony Jarrett — experienced athletes. It was only myself and Darren Braithwaite who did any form of practice.’
British Athletics performance director Neil Black denied suggestions the athletes did not feel able to speak out if they did not approve of team selection.
‘We had two meetings, one late last night and one through the day today,’ he said.
‘Not to have stern words, just to have straightforward conversations.’