Great Britain return from Budapest after a successful World Championships.
They won 10 medals – the joint highest in their history and level with the medal haul from Stuttgart in 1993 – and, here, the PA news agency looks at the talking points.
Britain’s golden girl
It was a true comeback story for Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who has been beset by injury problems since winning her first heptathlon title in 2019.
She was a strong medal contender but all the pre-Championships talk was about how Anna Hall would ease to victory, with defending champion Nafi Thiam out. Yet Johnson-Thompson never let the American, hampered by a knee problem, out of her sight – setting two personal bests – to reclaim her crown, proving her fight and quality a year out from the Paris Olympics.
Zharnel Hughes caps a successful summer
A bronze in the 100 metres was Hughes’ big moment and underlines his progress in a summer where he broke the long-standing 100m and 200m British records. He remained positive after fourth in the 200m but was clearly frustrated following another fourth in the 4x100m relay. Performance director Stephen Maguire knows the 28-year-old must now grasp his chance after his global breakthrough.
Agony for Asher-Smith
Dina Asher-Smith believed she was in PB shape, at least in the 100m, but a neural problem ultimately ended her medal hopes. A disappointing eighth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m saw her leave the Championships empty-handed having not run in the relay either. With women’s sprinting perhaps the best it has ever been, Asher-Smith will hope to resolve any issue quickly or lose vital momentum ahead of the Olympics.
Keely faces more battles ahead
The 21-year-old will be getting fed up of hearing other anthems while she stands on the podium. Silver at the Olympics, Commonwealths and now two second places at the World Championships will add fuel to the fire ahead of the 800m at the Paris Games. New champion Mary Moraa, Athing Mu – who won last year – and Hodgkinson will continue to battle it out in their fascinating competition.
King Kerr
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Josh Kerr continued the British domination of Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m as he emulated Jake Wightman’s win in Eugene last year. It sets up a mouth-watering clash in Paris next year between the two Edinburgh AC club mates and the defending Olympic champion. World Athletics president Seb Coe – a double 1500m Olympic champion – labelled Kerr’s win his best moment of the Championships.
Hibbert produces world leading 17.75m to take top spot at Racers Grand Prix
World Under-20 record holder Jaydon Hibbert produced a world leading 17.75m to win the triple jump at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Hibbert opened his competition with 16.45m in the first round before going out to 17.14m in the second round, giving the National Stadium crowd a sign of things to come.
The third round saw him produce a then-meet record of 17.30m before, in round four, he produced a stadium record and world leading 17.75m to secure the victory.
O’Brien Wasome produced 16.64m for second while Jordan Scott was third with 16.06m.
“I was satisfied with the third and fourth jump of the series,” Hibbert said after the competition.
Seville outduels Lyles to claim 100m title at Racers Grand Prix; Alfred runs personal best to claim title in women’s equivalent
Oblique Seville and Julien Alfred produced a pair of scintillating performances to claim the 100m titles at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Seville produced a personal best and world leading 9.82 to claim the men’s race ahead of American World champion Noah Lyles and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala.
Lyles’s time in second was a season’s best 9.85 while Omanyala ran 10.02 in third.
“I came out here in front of my Jamaican fans looking for a personal best and to get it today means a lot to me,” Seville said after the race.
“I just came out here to deliver. You’re always going to have ups and downs with the wind but you just have to run through it,” he added.
“As long as I’m healthy, expect good things,” was Seville’s response when asked about what fans can expect from him at Jamaica’s Olympic trials set for June 27-30.
In the women’s equivalent, St. Lucian World Indoor champion Julien Alfred sped to a personal best and meet record 10.78 to win ahead of Krystal Sloley who broke 11 seconds for the first time with 10.99 in second and Shashalee Forbes who ran a season’s best 11.05 in third.
Alfred says she didn’t expect to run that fast.
“I wanted to come out here and just work on execution. I didn’t expect that time and that’s why I was smiling so much,” she said.
Smikle produces 65.65m to win discus throw at Racers Grand Prix
Reigning Jamaican national champion Traves Smikle took the win in the men’s discus throw at the Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Smikle, a five-time national champion, produced 65.65m to win ahead of Samoa’s Alex Rose who threw 65.02m and American Reggie Jagers III who threw 64.64m.
Despite the win, Smikle admitted that his performance wasn’t up to his usual world class standards.
“I wasn’t my best today based on my standard and how I know I am but, at the same time, I’m in a competition where I have to go out there and do it, I’m competing against some of the best in the world and I am in my home town so I had to deliver,” Smikle said.
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