GB men disqualified and then REINSTATED as 400m relay winners... and Shakes-Drayton brings baton home for women
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You wait six years for a relay gold medal and then two come along at once.
Great Britain scooped both 4 x 400-metre titles at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg yesterday as the team signed off a successful three days of competition in dramatic fashion.
Perri Shakes-Drayton won her second gold medal of the day, following her victory in the individual event, as she anchored Britain’s women to glory, and then the men’s team crossed the line first — only to be disqualified and then reinstated.
Champions: Great Britain's Richard Strachan celebrates crossing the line first in the men's relay
Star: Shakes-Drayton rounded off a great championships winning her second gold
Michael Bingham, Richard Buck, Nigel Levine, who ran a sensational 45.8sec third leg, and Richard Strachan were halfway round their lap of honour when officials ruled Buck had committed an infringement at the start of his leg.
The 26-year-old stepped off the track after being barged by Poland’s Rafal Omelko on the first bend, but an appeal saw Great Britain reinstated with the gold and the Polish team disqualified instead.
Britain have an abysmal record in the 4 x 100m relay outdoors — they have failed to get the baton round four times in the last five Olympic Games — and have not won a European indoor relay gold since 2007, so these two titles were particularly satisfying.
Bingham, 26, said: ‘I don’t ever want to win or lose because of people really not being sportsmanlike. It was a blatant push and it was only one step. Richard tried to stay on the track. Anyone could see we won.’
Last stretch: Nigel Levine passes on the baton to Strachan for the final leg
Britain’s relay double took their tally to eight medals — four of them gold — and to second in the medals table behind Russia. ‘It was great,’ said UK Athletics head coach Peter Eriksson after his first championship since taking over from Charles van Commenee. ‘We said we were going to do better and we did. We won one more gold medal than last time (in Paris in 2011) and we have more to come.
‘Jess Ennis wasn’t here and Mo Farah wasn’t here, so we’re missing athletes, but these guys will now get the taste for doing (even) better. Perri was absolutely fantastic and we’ve not seen the best of her yet.’
Shakes-Drayton was the star of yesterday, winning individual gold in 50.85sec — the fastest time in the world this year — ahead of Eilidh Child, who set a new Scottish record of 51.45sec to claim silver. Shana Cox faded to sixth in 53.15sec, but the trio, accompanied by Christine Ohuruogu, returned to win relay gold.
Gold: Richard Buck alongside Michael Bingham, Richard Stracham and Nigel Levine (left to right)
At 5ft 8in, Shakes-Drayton, 24, should not be suited to the tighter bends indoors, but she looked so strong and fluid that her performance posed questions about whether she should switch from the hurdles and concentrate on the 400m flat.
Her victories, however, only went part of the way to easing the pain of missing out on last year’s Olympic final. ‘I still want to achieve over the 400m hurdles,’ she said. ‘I haven’t fulfilled my full potential, so I’m still a 400m hurdler.
‘Every disappointment makes you stronger. I think you need a setback to come back stronger and I think I’ve proved that.’
Champions: The men's quartet pose with their gold medals in Gothenburg
Levine, 23, was also a double medallist, winning relay gold and a silver in the individual 400m, in which Bingham and Strachan finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Mukhtar Mohammed won bronze in a feisty men’s 800m final, but there was disappointment for team captain and defending champion Jenny Meadows in the women’s equivalent. The 31-year-old blamed a ‘tactical error’ on the final back straight after finishing fourth in only her fourth race back after 17 months without a competitive race owing to an achilles injury.
On Saturday, Holly Bleasdale won a jump-off against Anna Rogowska from Russia to secure gold in the pole vault, Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz finished sixth in the high jump and James Dasaolu won silver in the men’s 60m.
Final leg: Britain's Christine Churuogu passes the baton to Shakes-Drayton
Champions: Eilidh Child, Perri Shakes-Drayton Shana Cox, and Christine Ohuruogu (left to right)
Golden girls: The 4x400m winning women's quartet
GREAT BRITAIN'S MEDALLISTS IN GOTHENBURG
Great Britain finished second in the medal table at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg after winning eight medals, including four golds. Here, Press Association Sport looks at how they were won.
GOLD
Bleasdale, women's pole vault: Twenty-one-year-old Bleasdale took the title following a dramatic jump-off with Poland's Anna Rogowska after rejecting the chance to share the gold. Her clearance, for the second time, of 4.67 metres secured victory.
Shakes-Drayton, women's 400m: The Londoner was a class apart throughout all three rounds, winning the final convincingly in a world-leading 50.85 seconds.
Women's 4x400m relay: The team of Eilidh Child, Shana Cox, Christine Ohuruogu and Shakes-Drayton led from the first leg to win in a new championship record.
Men's 4x400m relay: The quartet of Michael Bingham, Richard Buck, Nigel Levine and Richard Strachan came home over a second ahead of Russia and, after a brief disqualification, were reinstated as champions.
SILVER
Dasaolu, men's 60m: Dasaolu won his first senior British medal with a 6.48secs run, coming agonisingly close to gold with winner Jimmy Vicaut of France given the same time.
Child, women's 400m: Child made it a British one-two in the 400m, tracking Shakes-Drayton all the way round to come home second in a personal best 51.45s.
Levine, men's 400m: The Linford Christie-coached tangled with Russia's Pavel Trenikhin on the final bend, but recovered to finish second in 46.21.
BRONZE
Mohammed, men's 800m: The 22-year-old was twice barged into by Anis Ananenka of Belarus, the second time as the pair battled to get across the line, with Mohammed just nicking third by 0.01.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2287455/GB-men-disqualified-REINSTATED-400m-relay-winners--Shakes-Drayton-brings-baton-home-gold.html#ixzz2MWsySDHW
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