European Athletics Championships: Great Britain endure mixed relay fortunes to finish second in medal table

2022 European Championships - Athletics
Great Britain won the men’s 4x100m relay
REUTERS
Marc Mayo21 August 2022

Great Britain missed out on securing first place in the 2022 European Athletics Championships medal table despite winning the 4x100m men’s relay.

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake stormed to the line after opening legs from Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes and Jona Efoloko set up a dominant victory as GB went level with Germany for gold medals ahead of the last event.

A championship best-ever time of 37.67 seconds ended a 32-year record with it the hosts’ team fumbling at a changeover - fortunes that were reversed in the women’s event.

Earlier in the night, Julian Weber’s javelin victory sent the 50,000 fans in Munich wild and the GB men’s relay win left both on six gold medals ahead of the games’ final race, the women’s 4x100m relay.

After a strong start from Asha Philip, her changeover to Imani Lansiquot failed to come off leaving Ashleigh Nelson and Dina Asher-Smith unable to pursue the victorious German team as the hosts claimed their seventh gold of the games.

There was also heartbreak for Cindy Sember in the women’s 100m hurdles as she stumbled and came home last in her final. Jake Wightman secured silver in the men’s 800m behind Spain’s Mariano Garcia.

“I really wanted to add the European 800m title to my world 1500m title and I felt in the shape to do it,” Wightman said.

“The toughest bit [of the season] was after winning the 1500m at the Worlds. I'm pleased with how I managed to come back and I'm still running well. It's something that I can reflect on at the end of the season and be proud of - that I got something from each of these championships.”

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