17 August 2013

GB & NI won a bronze medal in the women’s 4x400m relay before Tiffany Porter (coach: Rana Reider) added another 20 minutes later in the 100m hurdles on the penultimate day of the IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

The relay quartet of Eilidh Child (Malcolm Arnold), Shana Cox (George Williams), Margaret Adeoye (Linford Christie) and Christine Ohuruogu (Lloyd Cowan) crossed the line in a time of 3:22.61, more than a second and a half ahead of fourth placed France.

Child, who ran a split of 51.7 to set the team up on the opening leg, said: “I’m just delighted that we could come home with something. We knew it would be tough with the Russians and the Americans but I just tried to set it up for everybody else and not panic too much that I was on the outside.”

After an excellent split of 50.3 on leg two, Cox said: “It felt really good and it was an exciting race. We knew it was going to be a tough one with the Russians at home and the Americans who we always have great competitions with. We made a pact to ourselves that we were going to go into it together and come home together and we were going to try our best.”

Adeoye propelled GB & NI into third place on leg three with a split of 51.1, she said: “I’m excited to get a bronze medal. When I stand on the podium I’m going to be over the moon and doing backflips.”

Newly crowned individual 400m World Champion Christine Ohuruogu, brought the team home on the last leg with a split of 49.6, said: “I’m really happy. I really am proud of the team; they all turn up, show up and do exactly what’s asked of them, they’re phenomenal athletes. Eilidh with what she’s run, Margaret who stepped in last minute to cover for Perri and Shana who always runs a good leg. I’ve got a bronze but I’m more happy for them in getting a bronze.”

After comfortably winning her semi-final in a time of 12.63, Tiffany Porter (Rana Reider) went on to set a new personal best of 12.55 to clinch bronze in a closely run women’s 100m hurdles final. Porter got off to a flying start and held her form well to hold off the challenge of American Dawn Harper for third, just one hundredth of a second shy of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s (Toni Minichiello) British record.

The world indoor silver medallist was overjoyed to have gone one place better than in 2011 to win Great Britain’s first ever World Championships 100m hurdles medal. She said: “I’m just so happy, I’m elated. It’s been a very difficult season for me and I’ve made a lot of changes, but I’ve maintained the faith throughout the season despite the races I’ve had and I’m happy I was able to put it together today when it mattered the most.

“I respect all of my competitors and those ladies are very talented. It’s just a matter of who executes their race when it matters and I’m just happy I was able to come away with a medal today.”

In the final of the men’s 200m, Adam Gemili (Michael Afilaka) was only four hundredths of a second outside of the medal positions as he finished fifth in a time of 20.08. The 19 year old, who ran a personal best of 19.98 in yesterday’s semi-final, was narrowly edged out of the top three but remained satisfied with how he performed in his first senior final.

Gemili said: “It’s an unbelievable experience to be in that final on the outside Usain Bolt and just being in the top eight and finishing fifth. I’m just very proud, very happy and very grateful to be in this position.

“I was very close to medal. Just four hundredths and I missed out on the Olympic final by four hundredths as well, so it’s always those fours. But as I get older and stronger that will hopefully come down and down and down. Hopefully I’ll be up there getting a medal in future years.”

For full results from day eight in Moscow please go to: http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/14th-iaaf-world-championships-4873/timetable/byday

In tomorrow’s session, the final day of the championships, both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay heats and finals take place and Chris O’Hare (Steve Gulley) lines up in the final of the 1500m, .

Watch the final session of the IAAF World Championships live tomorrow on BBC1 between 12.45-16.30pm.

GB & NI finalists at the 2013 IAAF World Championships: