Great Britain miss out on podium as mixed 4x400m finish fifth on opening night in Tokyo

Great Britain failed to secure a medal on the opening night of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as the mixed 4x400m quartet finished fifth in a tight final won by the United States.

Team GB's quartet of Lewis Davey, Emily Newnham, Tony Harries and Nicole Yeargin crossed the line 0.23 seconds outside the podium places after qualifying for the final earlier in the session with the second-fastest time. The United States took gold in 3 minutes 08.80 seconds, equalling the championship record, with the Netherlands, anchored by hurdles star Femke Bol, and Belgium completing the medal positions.

"Great Britain will obviously come away disappointed," four-time global heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill said on BBC One. "We perhaps hoped they might have been a little bit more in the mix than they were. Overall it was a very tough race. The Netherlands and United States were so far ahead. They were fantastic and there were some huge times ran there, so it was always going to be difficult. I do feel there is some disappointment there for Great Britain, they could've performed slightly better."

Harries, who ran the third leg, said he had tried to force the race into contention. "I had a lot of work to do. We're here to win medals, we're GB, we're not here to just compete," he said. "I went out as hard as I could to try and hold it. I just didn't have that endgame." Yeargin added: "I should have trusted myself and overtaken [Bol] when I could. I almost tripped her, we clashed spikes. I hope we do better in the men's and women's relays."

Britain arrived in Tokyo on the back of strong relay form, having medalled in every relay event at the Paris 2024 Olympics — supplying five of the nation's 10 athletics medals — and winning four relay medals at the previous World Championships, including silver in the mixed 4x400m two years ago.

The opening night also brought disappointment in field and middle-distance events for British athletes. Jazmin Sawyers, making her comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered early in 2024, failed to advance from the women's long jump qualification after managing 6.54 metres. The 31-year-old, who recorded a season's best of 6.89m earlier this year after a 20-month absence from competition, described the result as "gutted" and said it felt like "one of my worst competitions of the year."

"I feel like so many people put in such hard work to get me here and I just wish I could've made their work mean a little more," Sawyers said. "I just didn't do enough. It's hard because I look at it and I feel as though I had done everything leading into this, but now I've got to go back this winter and do more. I don't feel like I've given everything to the sport that I can and there's no excuse for that."

Laura Muir, the 32-year-old European and world medallist in the 1500m, also failed to progress past the first round after fading in the closing stages of her heat. Muir, who had reached the past eight global outdoor 1500m finals, said the early exit was baffling after an injury-disrupted build-up to the championships.

"I don't know what happened and I think that's the most upsetting thing," Muir said. "I feel like I've had a bit of a disrupted year but I was coming into form really well. I was excited with the shape that I was in, so I was definitely aiming to make the final and be competitive in that final. This has probably been the hardest journey I've had to get to the World Championships, so to have gone out in the first round makes it really difficult."

There were brighter moments for Britain's sprinters, with all six 100m entrants advancing to Sunday semifinal rounds. Dina Asher-Smith, Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita progressed from their respective women's heats, while world bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes, Jeremiah Azu and Romell Glave moved through in the men's event. In the shot put, Scott Lincoln reached the final and placed eighth in his first World Championship podium contest.

Competition continues on Sunday with 100m semifinals and finals scheduled later in the session, alongside the men's and women's relay events in which Britain will seek to return to the podium after the mixed relay disappointment.