GREAT Britain captain Eilidh Doyle insists the World Championships have been a success for the team after the hosts just hit their medal target.
The 30-year-old Scot was part of the women’s 4x400 metre relay which claimed silver just before the men’s team picked up a bronze.
It was Great Britain’s sixth medal of the games, allowing them to hit the six-to-eight target for podium places they had been set themselves before the championships in London. They had won just one medal before Saturday, Sir Mo Farah’s 10,000m title on the first evening, but Farah’s silver in the 5000m and gold and silver for the men and women in the 4x100m relay boosted the total.
Britain also had five fourth places and Doyle believes the future is bright after the London championships.
The team’s Scottish skipper said: “You’ve got to look at the bigger picture. We’ve made the target but we’ve also had some really excellent results.
“Look at the sprinters. The 4x100m boys are world champions. They beat America, they beat Jamaica.
“But also you look at the finals and personal bests – how many people finished higher than they were ranked coming in?
“If you look at the team as a whole, we’ve performed really well. We might have [only] just made the medal target but sometimes that’s irrelevant. You look at the bigger picture and I’m super proud of this team.”
Doyle joined Zoey Clark, Emily Diamond and Laviai Nielsen to finish behind the United States and claim silver for the women’s 4x400m team on Sunday night.
“For us to go out there and win a silver medal – we always tend to be among the bronzes – is just incredible. It’s been a great ending to a great championships,” she added.
Just minutes later Matthew Hudson-Smith, Martyn Rooney, Rabah Yousif and Dwayne Cowan clocked a season’s best of two minutes 59 seconds behind winners Trinidad and Tobago and second-placed the United States.
Elsewhere, Robbie Grabarz, who won Olympic bronze in London five years ago, was unable to make an impact in the high jump final and bowed out having failed to clear 2.29m.
Lynsey Sharp finished last in the 800m final in one minute 58.98secs, having reached it as a fastest loser on Friday. She was reinstated to the final after initially being disqualified for a push in the semi-final but British Athletics appealed.
Chris O’Hara also finished last in the 1500m, clocking in at 3min 38.28s.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here