New-look quartet claim men's world 4x100m bronze

Athletics 24 Jul 22

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake is already eyeing an upgrade as Great Britain's new-look 4x100m men's relay team took their World Championships medal tally to five with bronze in Oregon.

Jona Efoloko, Zharnel Hughes, team captain Mitchell-Blake and Reece Prescod clocked 37.83 second as Canada exploited a sloppy changeover by the USA to take gold with the hosts settling for silver.

However, a mystery leg injury to Dina Asher-Smith cost Great Britain's women a shot at a medal in the 4x100m relay.

Asher-Smith, who finished fourth in the 100m and won bronze over 200m during a hectic schedule in Oregon, hobbled through the final strides of her leg and was consoled by team-mates as they finished sixth.

"Ultimately the aim is to come away from the next world champs with a gold and go onto the Paris Olympics," said Mitchell-Blake.

"It is a stepping stone, we will get better and we have got to raise our game going forward. We will enjoy this moment together, appreciate the fact that we got a medal and refocus after this to the rest of the season.

"We stepped up when we had to. Credit to everybody for raising their game, we came away with a medal.

"We have shown that we are serial medallists in this relay. Every champs that we have come to we have been fortunate enough to medal.

"That is testament to our individual skills and the collective effort of everybody behind. It is a team effort, not just us here. There is a relay pool so credit to the coaching staff and everybody back home that has been continuing to support us."

Team newcomer Efolok, 22, was selected over Adam Gemili on the opening leg and got Britain off to a flyer, Prescod then holding off Jamaica to ensure a podium place.

"I was very nervous but Nethaneel our team captain told us that pressure is a privilege," he said.

"I just kept that in the back of my head. All I was thinking about was getting out and giving the team a good lead and I was just happy that I did that."

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