In the final event of a very successful London 2017, Martyn Rooney did a sterling job on his customary final leg, ensuring the British team won 4x400m relay bronze. Handed the baton with work to do, the former Loughborough student ran a great leg, catching, but unable to pass the Trinidadian and American athletes who were out in front.

Having bowed out in the heats of the individual 400m, Rooney got his redemption: “I wish I was in the shape I was in last year because I think I could’ve gone past those guys down the home straight. But it’s still amazing to come away with a medal at our home World Championships. “I’m really proud to be part of this team.”

Just 15 minutes earlier it was a very similar story in the women’s 4x400m relay, alumna Emily Diamond running an outstanding anchor leg to bring the British quartet home for silver medals. Having run the last leg at Rio 2016 when the team won bronze, Diamond was delighted to upgrade that medal to silver, running a quick first 200m to put distance between herself and the chase pack. That was a smart move, as it forced her pursuers to over-commit, meaning the Sports & Exercise Science graduate was never threatened come the home straight.

“We didn’t expect to go to Rio and medal, so it was a new experience. But this year in front of a home crowd, we came in with different expectations. To do this in front of our home crowd is just amazing. We’re getting so much more confident; we noticed yesterday that on certain legs we were coming up on the Americans and we were closing the gap, so we just need to believe in ourselves more.”

In the men’s high jump final, former student Robbie Grabarz equalled current student Morgan Lake’s performance from the previous night as he finished sixth. Having won bronze in the same stadium in 2012, the British record holder wanted more, but eventually bowed out at 2.29m. In the women’s 800m Loughborough based Lynsey Sharp ran sub 1.59, a truly world class time, but had to settle for eighth.

On the penultimate night there was medal success for both British teams in the 4x100m relays, Loughborough based Asha Philip and Danny Talbot getting on the rostrum.

For Talbot, who has been part of the GB sprint relay team for six years, it hasn’t all been plain sailing, but it has all been worth it now he can call himself a world champion. Having looked good in the heats, the Brits stretched their check marks in the final and it paid off as they ran the third fastest time ever to take gold.

In the women’s equivalent no one could stop the American’s, but a strong opening leg from Asha Philip put the team on track for a medal, eventually winning silver [pictured above], one better than the bronze they won in Rio.

In total 19 Loughborough athletes were in action at the IAAF World Championships, including five current students. Amongst those first year psychology student Morgan Lake was the star, placing sixth in a tight women’s high jump final. Jess Judd and Meghan Beesley made the 1500m and 400mH semi-finals, whilst David Omoregie and Jess Turner made their World Championship debuts in the 110mH and 400mH respectively.

A month earlier at the World Para Athletics Championships, Loughborough linked athletes won nine medals, seven of them gold, thanks to outstanding performances from Jonnie Peacock, Sophie Hahn, Richard Whitehead, Stef Reid, Hollie Arnold, Olivia Breen, and Jonathan Broom-Edwards. Incredibly there were also three world records, two for Hahn and one for Arnold.

For more information on Loughborough’s success at London 2017 head to www.lboro.ac.uk/london2017

Report courtesy of Loughborough University

Photo: Matchtight

British Athletics team captain Doyle, coached by Brian Doyle at the £30million Sports Training Village, built on the excellent work of Zoey Clark and Laviai Nielsen in the first two legs to hand the baton over to Diamond in second place.

The United States were able to maintain their lead and take another global gold but, roared on by another capacity crowd in the London Stadium, Diamond ran superbly to bring Britain home in 3:25.00. Poland took bronze after medal contenders Jamaica pulled up on the second leg.

It was a step up on the bronze that Doyle and Diamond won in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and, along with a third-placed finish for the men’s 4x400m quartet in the last race of the night, helped Britain achieve their pre-championships target of six medals.

Doyle said: “It was a really great ending to what has been a great championships. We knew we were capable of getting a medal but it was going to be tough, so to go out there and win silver was just incredible.

“I didn’t even realise that Jamaica had pulled up, Laviai was the only one to clock it as it was on her leg. You are so focused on being in the right position and doing your job that it was only when Emily crossed the line that I was working out where everybody else was!”

The British captain added: “I am so proud of this team, we have done a really good job. We have made our medal target but we have also had some excellent results. I urge people to look at the bigger picture and how many athletes have finished higher than they were ranked going into the championships.”

Diamond, coached remotely by Jared Deacon at the University, was thrilled to be back on the podium and believes the British quartet will keep improving.

“It’s amazing to do a lap of honour anyway but to do it in front of a home crowd is incredible,” she said.

“Last year was such an out of the blue experience, I would never have expected to go to Rio at the start of the year and get a medal. This year, with it being in front of a home crowd, we came in maybe with slightly different expectations.

“I think we are getting so much more confident and we noticed in the heats that we were closing the gaps on the Americans. We just need to believe in ourselves a bit more – yes they are phenomenal athletes but we are all great athletes as well and we just need to have that faith in ourselves.”

Earlier in the evening, University of Bath Sports Performance graduate Danny Talbot and his GB 4x100m relay team-mates had received their gold medals to rapturous applause from another sell-out crowd.

Talbot, CJ Ujah, Adam Gemili and Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake had run the third-fastest time in history on Saturday night to claim Britain’s first-ever sprint relay gold medal in sensational style.

For more information about the athletics programme at the University of Bath, visit www.teambath.com/athletics.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

Lead photo shows Eilidh Doyle passing the baton to Emily Diamond during Sunday’s final.

The British Athletics team captain, coached by Brian Doyle at the Sports Training Village, was roared on by a capacity crowd at the London Stadium as she raced in her fifth successive global final on Thursday.

She had a tough draw on the inside lane, though, and made a mistake on the bend as she came home in 55.71 in a race won by Korey Carter of the United States in 53.07.

“It was always going to be a tough final and I knew I was going into it ranked eighth but for me it wasn’t that great a race,” said Doyle, who had finished fifth and sixth in her previous World Championships finals in 2013 and 2015.

“I mucked up hurdle seven and made a bit of a mess of it, that’s the thing that has really annoyed me. If I’d finished eighth but nailed the race I would probably be OK with that but there was more there that I could have done.

“The consistency is there, in terms of getting to finals, but I just want to make that step up now and try to be somewhere other than eighth.”

Doyle will have another chance to push for a medal this weekend in the women’s 4x400m relay, along with fellow University-based athlete Emily Diamond. Both were part of the British quartet that won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“I feel in good shape going into the hurdles and hopefully all the other girls will bring it as well,” Doyle added. “I think we have a good chance of maybe doing something there.”

She is also looking forward to experiencing the London crowd once again, saying: “The support in the stadium and at home has been lovely, I have really appreciated it. The crowd out there are just so grateful and happy for us, and that means a lot.”

Sports Performance student Cameron Chalmers, coached by James Hillier and supported by a Thompson Education Trust Scholarship, will also hope to make his debut at a global championships this weekend in the men’s 4x400m relay.

He is in a British squad that also includes Sports Performance graduate Jack Green, who reached the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles earlier this week.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

The 20-year-old, who has been coached by Rob Ellchuk at the Sports Training Village since 2011, finally got the international title she has been striving for after two stunning performances in the T44 100m at the World Para-Athletics Championships.

Kamlish smashed her own world record when she clocked 12.90 in the heats and then held her nerve in a final delayed by a false start to scorch to victory in 12.92, much to the delight of the home crowd in the London Olympic Stadium.

It was Kamlish’s first global medal since her 200m bronze at the 2013 World Championships and made amends for her frustration at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where she also broke the world record in the heats but finished fourth in the final.

“Champion of the world sounds amazing, I can’t imagine anything better!” said Kamlish, a lower-leg amputee who first got into athletics after attending a Playground to Podium event at the University of Bath in 2011 to identify potential Paralympians.

“The only other major international medal I’ve got is a bronze from 2013, so it has been quite a long time coming and I’m really, really happy.

“I was actually kind of glad there was a false start because my first start was so bad! The girls either side of me in the final are really good starters but over the past year since Rio, I have learnt to stay relaxed and think they’re ahead of me but it’s OK, I can overtake them.

“I couldn’t really ignore the parallels [between Rio and London]. It was nice to break the world record but it also gave me a few extra nerves because it was so similar to Rio.

“I knew exactly what went wrong in Rio, though, and I just had to rectify that. I’m really relieved and I’ve proven to myself I can do it. I’m so pleased, I can’t quite believe it.”

Kamlish was also full of praise for her coach, saying: “Rob has been my only coach since I started the sport and he’s been immensely supportive. I don’t think I would have been able to do any of this without him.”

Training partner Paul Blake was disappointed with his eighth place in the T36 200m final but he will be back on Friday in the 400m – the distance in which he won gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. That final is at 8.03pm.

Polly Maton, coached by Colin Baross at the University, runs in the T47 100m final at 8.55pm on Tuesday.

To find out more about the athletics programme at the University of Bath, visit www.teambath.com/athletics.

Report courtesy of Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.