Dina’s relay nightmare
GB baton blunder ends bid to top medal table
ONA night of individual and collective frustration, Britain fell a fraction short of topping the medal table at the European Championships in Munich because of a botched baton change in the women’s relay.
Needing to beat Germany and finish in the top two to lead the overall standings, the 4x100m quartet of Asha Philip, ImaniLara Lansiquot, Ashleigh Nelson and Dina Asher-Smith had a fine chance as champions to bring a golden curtain down on a fine event for Britain.
But after Philip failed to hand over to Lansiquot in the first change, it all went horribly and dramatically wrong, and was compounded by Germany surging off for the win that cemented their place as the top nation.
For Asher-Smith, it was also the continuation of a fairly underwhelming trip, for which she arrived as reigning champion in the 100m, 200m and relay and retained none of them.
‘We are a team,’ said AsherSmith, whose 200m silver was the sole addition to her career collection of medals.
‘We have seen it all. We know what we are capable of. Unfortunately this is why the relays are everyone’s favourite event — stuff happens. We are global medallists, that doesn’t come without being excellent. Things happen. We grow from it.’
Having seen the baton slip through Lansiquot’s fingers, Philip said: ‘This team is really consistent so I am shocked by what just happened. We came to defend our title but things didn’t go my way.’
A moment earlier, the men’s 4x100m quartet of Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes, Jona Efoloko and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake justified their status as strong favourites by winning gold in a championship record 37.67sec, taking the British haul to six golds. It says something for the
madness of Jake Wightman’s summer that he allowed himself the gentlest of laments for not being one of them.
Not that he was unhappy with the 800m silver medal he took yesterday — far from it. Just as he wasn’t displeased with the bronze he claimed in the 1500m at the Commonwealth Games.
But as he has discovered since winning the world title in Eugene last month, once you have worn gold, everything else feels that little bit lighter on the chest.
And so silver in Germany was excellent, particularly at a less familiar distance, but he still carried a whiff of frustration at losing out to Spain’s Mariano Garcia by 0.06sec.
‘I’m disappointed but if you’d told me before that I’d come away with a silver I’d have taken it,’ he said. His race had followed a smart plan, with Wightman tucked behind the front before issuing his kick on the last bend.
The problem there was that he needed to go wide to clear the traffic, and that extra distance proved decisive as Garcia, in clear air on the inside, was just about able to hold Wightman off. The Spaniard won in a personal best 1:44.85.
‘I believed I could win that race and to come away with a silver is still a nice end to the season,’ Wightman said.
Cindy Sember qualified fastest for the 100m hurdles final but then clattered the second hurdle and finished last. Morgan Lake was seventh in the high jump final with 1.90m and in a tearful interview with the BBC she indicated she would consider her future in the sport.
In the gymnastics portion of what is broadly considered a multi- sport championships, there were a further five medals for Britain, with the standout performance coming once again from rapidly-rising Jake Jarman, who won vault gold.
What made his victory impressive, aside from the distinction of being the first gymnast from this country to win European gold in that discipline, was the limited notice Jarman was given for competing. The 20-year-old, who won four golds at the Commonwealth Games last month, was switched in late on after his team- mate Giarnni ReginiMoran hurt his ankle.‘It’s the most the most last-minute thing that’s ever happened to me,’ Jarman said.
His winning score of 14.983 vindicated the decision. He also took floor bronze yesterday to go with his earlier team gold, while Joe Fraser won a third title at the championships on the parallel bars. Regini- Moran took bronze behind Fraser, and Courtney Tulloch claimed the same colour on the rings.