Pressure vented as British athletes claim three Olympic medals in space of an hour

From James Toney in Tokyo

From sailing races to BMX duels fractions have mattered at these Olympics for British athletes - and they've usually fallen on the right side of the margin.

But on a night that saw three British athletics medals in the space of 60 minutes, they were just the wrong side of the proverbial thickness of a vest.

It's 17 years since Mark Lewis-Francis stunned America's Maurice Greene to secure a famous British 4x100m title in Athens.

This time it was Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake who was chased down by Italy's Filippo Tortu in the final stride, their winning margin just one hundredth of a second, live on Eurosport and discovery+.

"We’ve spoilt ourselves in the past with getting victory and that’s an addictive feeling," said Mitchell-Blake, who joined forces with Chijindu Ujah, Zharnel Hughes and Richard Kilty for the silver.

"The guys did a phenomenal job putting me in the lead and I just wasn’t able to hold on but it was a competitive time and we can walk away with an Olympic silver medal, that’s not to be frowned upon at all.”

However, medals were what Team GB needed at the track and medals are what they got - three of them a serious relieving of the pressure value on the athletics team here.

Laura Muir always had the belief she belonged on the big stage and this was some graduation under the brightest of lights.

Muir has been the face of British women's middle distance running for the last six years but admitted she was getting fed up of just missing out. Not anymore, as she became Scottish individual medallist on the track since Liz McColgan's silver in 1988.

She finished fifth, fourth and fifth over 1500m at the last three World Championships and seventh five years ago on her Olympic debut in Rio.

Muir arrived in Japan ranked fourth in the world and came into the final knowing conventional wisdom suggested the race was at the mercy of Holland’s Sifan Hassan, seeking an unprecedented distance treble, having already won 5,000m gold.

But Muir has always been a canny tactician and judged her run to perfection.

When the bell rang she was in a group of three, Hassan and Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon tussling at the front, the Scot just in their wake.

Kipyegon, defending the title she won in Rio, kicked clear to record a new Olympic record and Muir, head rocking and legs pumping, moved to the shoulder of Hassan and kicked away, carving over a second off her national best in a time of 3:54.50.

"I've been fourth, fifth twice, sixth and seventh every year since 2015, it was time to change that," she said.

"I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared. The past few times I have lost it in those last few metres, I was so worried that I was going to get pipped again.

"I said to myself if I never run another step again, just make sure I get to that line. I was tiring badly but luckily I made it and in a fast time too.

"I knew I was going to cry whether or not I got a medal, so it was always going to end in tears. I’m just so happy it’s happened here.

"There’s been a lot of sad tears over the past few years so it’s just great that I’ve finally got this. After Covid and everything being delayed, it’s such a huge relief to get a medal against the backdrop of everything that’s happened over the past couple of years."

Muir will hope this performance is the catalyst to push on - next year's schedule is packed with the World and European Championships, punctuated by the chance to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Sometimes it takes a performance like this to make you truly believe - and 2022 could yet be the year of Laura Muir.

"I’m such a different runner to what I was," she added.

"Physiologically I just couldn’t deal with it, mentally I was going to go with it but my body just couldn’t cope. This year I was prepared for it and I’m 100% fit. In the past few years I haven’t been and that’s showed in just missing the podium

"This is what I’m capable of and I’m just so happy that I was able to go out there and deliver what I feel I’m capable of doing.

"My PB was set in 2016 as well, so I’ve waited five years for a global medal and five years for another PB - I didn’t know if I was ever going to PB again, so to do both in one go is just amazing."

British women's sprint relay team had set a national record in qualifying but the class of Jamaica and the USA showed in the final as they retained their bronze medal from Rio.

The return of a solitary bronze was not what Dina Asher-Smith expected from these Games but after her injury struggles, which forced her out of her individual events, she had no complaints.

"I think I’m in a bit of mixed emotions because obviously me the competitor would have liked a different colour," she said, after joining forces with Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Daryll Neita.

"But I need to remember I was on crutches six weeks ago and there was a 10% chance – less than 10% chance – that I was going to be here.

"I’ve worked incredibly hard, straining my knee, straining my knee, strengthening my hamstring, letting it heal, and obviously to come away with a medal here is honestly something that I could not have even contemplated six weeks ago. You know when you forget what you’ve been through? It does mean a lot."

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