Yard sales in philadelphia GB’s Reekie wins world 800m silver in Glasgow

Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie said she had learned “a good lesson” before the Paris Olympics after winning World Athletics Indoor Championship 800m silver in front of her home crowd to clinch her first major medal.

The Scot, 25, was backed by passionate support in Glasgow but initially looked disappointed after clocking two minutes 2.72 seconds, behind Ethiopia’s champion Tsige Duguma.

It came after GB’s women’s 4x400m relay quartet, which included twin sisters Laviai and Lina Nielsen, won bronze.

Ama Pipi and Jessie Knight brought GB home in a national record of 3:26.36.

Those results meant the hosts ended the three-day championships fifth in the medal table with four medals, following golds for Josh Kerr and Molly Caudery on Saturday.

Reekie did not initially show much emotion, despite achieving the breakthrough medal she had long sought.

“To be honest, when I stood on that line I was only going to accept gold,” Reekie told BBC Scotland.

“But I’ve got to put it in perspective. It’s my first senior medal and it was a hard race. They had obviously done their research and it was a good lesson for me. It leaves good things to practise for the summer.

“I wanted that gold and that’s the way I’ve always been. I keep on saying ‘be happy, be happy’. But I genuinely stood on that line not prepared to accept anything else.”

Rapidly improving Briton Georgia Bell narrowly missed out on a medal with a fourth-placed finish in the women’s 1500m, running 4:03.47 as Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu took gold.

Britain’s Revee Walcott-Nolan was sixth in 4:04.60, while in the men’s final Adam Fogg was 14th in 3:43.81.

Cindy Sember placed seventh in 7.92 seconds in a women’s 60m hurdles final in which the Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton set a world record of 7.65.

After missing out on an Olympic medal by 0.09 seconds in Tokyo in 2021 and finishing fifth at last summer’s outdoor World Championships, Reekie was on a mission to capture the first major medal of her career on home soil.

She had asserted herself as one of the favourites for gold by beating Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu and 2022 medallist Halimah Nakaayi to qualify fastest for Sunday’s final.

But it was Duguma, a relative newcomer to the event, who controlled the race, initially at a slow pace before holding off Reekie over the final 400m.

About 12 months have passed since Reekie split with her coach Andy Young, and she is now benefitting from a fresh approach under the guidance of Jon Bigg and former Olympic 400m hurdles champion Sally Gunnell.

Although initially dejected at not taking gold here, she is now enjoying every step on her journey to Paris and displayed her form by setting a championship record in winning the British indoor 800m title in February.

With the increased belief that will accompany this breakthrough success, Reekie will now set her sights on challenging leading 800m trio Keely Hodgkinson, Athing Mu and Mary Moraa at the Paris Olympics.

“The margins are so fine. You can’t make any mistakes and I made some of those mistakes in that race. I’m going to have to take it away and improve on that,” Reekie said.

“I really want one of those Olympic medals now and I know I’ve got some work to do for that. I’m really excited for Paris. To come here and do this on my home track is just so nice.”

Not only did Laviai and Lina Nielsen finally achieve their childhood dream of representing GB together, but they were able to mark that special occasion by helping GB to 4x400m relay bronze.

Injury denied Lina the chance to compete alongside her sister at the 2017 European Indoor Championships, before she then suffered a severe multiple sclerosis relapse – a condition which affects both sisters – before the 2022 World Championships.

At last, that goal became a reality in Glasgow on Sunday night as Laviai, who last month led Lina across the line in a 400m one-two at the British Championships, handed over to her sister after finishing the opening leg in third.

They looked in disbelief as Knight crossed the line, before sharing an embrace that meant as much as the bronze medal which had just been confirmed.

“I had a little cry just as we were coming through the media zone,” an emotional Lina Nielsen told British Athletics.

“It’s something that we’ve dreamed of our whole careers. I’ve had so many setbacks so it held back that dream.

“I’m finally in a healthy place, injury free, illness free, and to come together – we all ran a really good split – it’s really special.

“It’s Olympic year and I hope that we can continue that progression into the summer. It’s not about us; it’s about the whole team. We are British record holders.” Laviai Nielsen said: “I’m so proud. Honestly, she’s had so may setbacks.”

There had been drama on Pipi’s third leg as the British athlete looked to force her way past Jamaica’s Charokee Young, who dropped the baton as the pair came together, leaving GB a clear run in third.

At the front of the race, the Netherlands’ Femke Bol won her second gold of the championships as she held off the United States on the final leg to seal victory in 3:25.07.

There is always a buzz around Armand Duplantis at any competition he enters. The 24-year-old has won everything there is to win, currently holds every major title and has broken the pole vault world record on seven separate occasions.

But he had not yet managed to hit his usual heights in 2024, taking until his third and most recent outing to clear 6m.

Despite struggling to find his rhythm in Sunday’s final, Duplantis once again came away with gold as the only athlete to clear 5.95m.

He continued on, clearing 6.05m at the final attempt, but a would-be world record clearance at 6.24m proved beyond reach.

After becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to win a world sprint treble in Budapest, Noah Lyles had suggested in the early stages of this year that he could aim for a historic quadruple haul of sprint golds at the Paris Olympics.

That would involve the 26-year-old American adding the 4x400m relay to his targets, following 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay success last summer.

And on Sunday night Lyles brought that ambition a step closer to reality as he ran the third leg of the 4x400m for USA.

But, pipped to 60m gold by Christian Coleman on Friday, he was once again made to settle for silver as Belgium’s Alexander Doom overhauled Christopher Bailey in a dramatic finish.

Following Lyles’ inclusion, American former world 100m champion Fred Kerley accused USA Track & Field of “playing favouritism” and being “puppets”.

Responding to those comments in Glasgow, Lyles said, external: “He could be here but he ain’t. If he’s mad at that, come on out here.

“I wanted to make sure I gave my best because I know I’m the new guy and I haven’t done any 4x400m as a professional.

“I wanted to make sure they knew they can trust me and if we get to Paris, I can be on that finals [team].”