World Athletics Championships 2023: Shock British bronze medal in 800m
- Published
More medal success in Budapest for Britain at the World Athletic Championships in Hungary.
Twenty one year old Ben Pattison won a surprise 800m bronze medal running in his very first World Championships.
Meanwhile, Great Britain's women Asha Philip, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita also won bronze in the sprint 4x100m relay race.
Lansiquot said: "This is honestly the most inspiring era of British female sprinting. I can't portray that enough. Being around these girls, warming up together, it just inspires me with so much belief."
A relay race involves a team of usually four runners passing a baton (which is a small metal tube) to one another during a race. Baton exchanging in a relay race is not easy when running at top speed. The baton also has to be passed within a changeover zone otherwise teams face disqualification. Relay races happen at big athletic championships but also school sports days.
Pattison looked shocked after crossing the finish line to win his first world medal. He's the first British man to win a world 800m in 36 years.
"I feel like I'm going to wake up in a minute," he said in disbelief.
"All day, I've had people telling me I'm going to medal. Halfway through the day, I started to believe it."
Three years ago, Pattison was worried he might never run again after being diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening heart condition that he had to have surgery for.
Adding the women's relay bronze has meant Britain has won seven medals during the championships - equalling the team's performance last year with one day of the World Championships remaining.
Unfortunately Britain's men's relay team couldn't add to the success of the women's relay team, narrowly missing out on a medals place finishing in fourth place in their 4x100m relay race.
- Published26 August 2023
