Great Britain’s Tokyo-bound Olympians enjoyed a fruitful final outing before heading out to Japan with a series of encouraging performances at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead.
Cindy Sember took top spot in the 100m hurdles while Britain’s men won the 4x100m relay, setting a world lead time in the process.
The women’s team came home second in their race, a finishing position matched by Jodie Williams in both the 200m and 400m, while Holly Bradshaw was runner-up in the pole vault.
Andrew Butchart came home third in the 3000m, as did Andrew Pozzi in the 110m hurdles, with CJ Ujah and Zharnel Hughes finishing second and third respectively across 100m.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson also continued her recovery from an Achilles injury by taking part in the long jump in front of home fans in the north east.
Sember must be wishing she can compete in Gateshead every week, with this her second victory of the season at the venue.
A time of 12.69 seconds marked an impressive outing for the 26-year-old, who finished just one place shy of winning an Olympic medal on her Games debut at Rio 2016.
"I'm so happy that the conditions held up and I'm just really happy to execute the performance today," she said.
"I had an iffy British trials so I'm pleased to come back and show what I'm capable of doing and I'm happy with it.
"I just know that I'm in really good shape. I can do pretty good things so I'm excited."
A world-leading 38.27 from the British 4️⃣ 🤩
— Müller British Grand Prix (@Gateshead_DL) July 13, 2021
📊 Results: https://t.co/xH8FWhN67G #MullerBritishGP | #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/WaZgrjGYm5
Victory also went the way of the men's sprint relay stars, with CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake stopping the clock in 38.27 seconds.
The women's team, comprising of Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Beth Dobbin and Darryl Neita, were second behind the Netherlands in 42.92s, a season's best performance.
There were impressive performances aplenty in the British Grand Prix with Williams enjoying a double dose of second place on the track.
The 27-year-old will compete in the 400m in Tokyo so there was no better time than now to produce a personal best 50.94s.
That came within an hour of finishing her 200m race, stopping the clock in a season’s best 22.60s to leave her feeling more than enthused about what’s on the horizon in the coming weeks.
"I’m exhausted! I’m really happy, that’s my fastest 200m in long time," she said.
"Going under 51 [seconds, in the 400m] was the aim heading into Tokyo so it’s a good day.
"I’m really happy, the fact I was able to finish that strong so quickly after running the 200m as well. It went as well as it could have gone.
"Going at that pace is only going to help in the 400m – it’s a wide-open event."
Forty of those who competed in Gateshead will also be representing Team GB in Tokyo, with Bradshaw among those returning having competed at Rio 2016.
A vault of 4.71m was adrift of her season’s best but it was enough for second place on the night.
Super pleased with my official selection to compete at the Tokyo Olympics next month in the Heptathlon 🇯🇵
— KJT (@JohnsonThompson) June 29, 2021
This sport is brutal at times, I don’t take for granted how lucky I am to be able to do what I love every day & to have people around me with the same vision & belief in me! pic.twitter.com/gMgnr9FUkS
Heptathlon world champion Johnson-Thompson was also back in action, continuing her comeback from the “long, tough road” of injury in the long jump.
A best effort of 6.10m wasn’t what she was aiming for this event – one of the seven that forms the heptathlon – was about far more than the result on the night.
"It's been a long, long time for me. I think last year I only had one long jump competition and the time before that was Doha. It's really good to get that practice in ahead of Tokyo.
"It's always tough. Each week there has been a new challenge. I'm glad I was able to get a full five jumps out and not get a reaction. It shows that my body can handle it I just need to work on my technique more.
"I've got one more competition this weekend where I'll be starting a heptathlon but not finishing. I'll maybe do a couple of events on day one and day two."
"I'm improving every week. Every week I can see changes, I can see improvements, I can see improvements on the clock and in the pit and on the high jump mat. I'm fully fit, I just need competition practice."
Sportsbeat 2021