There were a trio of stirring silvers at the Rome Diamond League as Dina Asher-Smith, Laura Muir and Andrew Pozzi all impressed in the Italian capital.
Asher-Smith in particular caught the eye as she underlined the fact that she can do it all after sealing a standout result in the 100m at the season’s fourth meet.
The Rio relay bronze medallist arrived in the Italian capital with consecutive 200m triumphs under her belt and did not fail to deliver in her first 100m offering of the season.
Starting strongly, she led from lane four, before being hauled in at the death by Olympic champion Elaine Thompson to finish in 10.94 – her fifth sub-11-second race.
And while the ultra-competitive 23-year-old lamented the fact that she couldn’t claim victory, she knew that there were plenty of positives to take.
“Obviously, 10.94 as an opener – I really can’t complain,” she said.
“I’ve never opened sub-11 before, so that’s something that my coach is going to be absolutely over the moon about. I put together a good quality race, so he’ll be happy with that but I’m a competitor, so I go out there every single time to win.
“To come second was frustrating and especially as I was doing so well but then felt myself tensing up. That’s just what happens in races and that’s why you need to do more and more: to get race fit.
“I work on everything. I’m quite fortunate that I’m a good starter naturally, so that’s always one of the stronger bits of my race and then the thing I need to work on tend to be a bit further down the track!”
Laura Muir ran her second-fastest 1500m ever as she grabbed another second-place for GB in Rome, with compatriot Eilish McColgan sixth.
After a difficult start to the race in a tight pack, Muir managed to manoeuvre herself into a position from which she could mount an attack, and she did just that.
With world record holder Genzebe Dibaba dashing away in the final lap, Muir refused to let her go, chasing the Ethiopian down in the final stretch and coming close to finish in 3:56.73.
Andrew Pozzi notched a new season’s best with an electric 13.29s in the 110m hurdles.
The world indoor champion got off the quickest, leading the race and looking comfortable before a late charge from Sergey Shubenkov handed the Russian victory on the line, with just 0.03s in it.
Elsewhere, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake was eighth in a stacked 200m field, while Andrew Butchart notched the same finish in the 5000m.
Shara Proctor and Lorraine Ugen were ninth and 12th in the long jump respectively and Zak Seddon matched that in the 3000m steeplechase.
Sportsbeat 2019