GB win three silvers on final day of European Indoors

Great Britain won three silvers on the final day of the European Athletics Indoor Championships to finish with seven medals.

Melissa Courtney-Bryant had to settle for second place in the women’s 3, 000m after being pipped on the line by Ireland’s Sarah Healy.

George Mills was second in the men’s 3, 000m behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who took his tally of European indoor golds to a record-equalling seven with a third consecutive 1500m and 3, 000m double.

GB were also runners-up in the women’s 4x400m relay, meaning the squad finished eighth in the medal table with one gold, three silvers and three bronze medals in Apeldoorn.

Lina Nielsen, Hannah Kelly, Emily Newnham and Amber Anning ran a national record 3: 24.89 to take silver behind hosts the Netherlands in what was the final event of the championships.

Jade O’Dowda narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the women’s pentathlon after being edged out by Ireland’s Kate O’Connor in the final event, the 800m.

O’Dowda sat third in the standings after four of the five events, having recorded personal bests in the 60m, high jump and shot put.

But O’Connor surged to victory in the 800m to finish 30 points ahead of O’Dowda, who secured a personal best score of 4, 751 points.

After finishing second behind Ingebrigtsen in the 5, 000m at last summer’s outdoor championships in Rome, Mills once again had to settle for silver behind the Norwegian, who has now won 16 European titles across all surfaces and championships.

Ingebrigtsen surged in front with two-and-a-half laps to go and although Mills made a brave attempt to keep up, the Briton faded in the last 100m.

“I thought 400m was a bit early for Jakob to defend and I thought I could get him on the final straight, but he pulled away”.

“Anything less]than silver] and I would have been really disappointed”.

Mills ‘ father, former England footballer Danny, said of watching from the sidelines: “It’s horrible, it really is. I’ve said so many times it’s like watching a penalty shootout time and time again.

” I’ve got sore hands again from banging the boards. It’s tough, but he gave it absolutely everything. “

Courtney-Bryant improved on the bronze medals won at each of her previous two European Indoors, but admitted she was” gutted “to miss out on gold.

” I went hard down the back straight and felt I had another gear, “she said”. But then my legs just went beneath me. But Sarah ran really well, I am really happy for her. “

Courtney-Bryant’s GB team-mates Hannah Nuttall and Innes Fitzgerald finished sixth and eighth respectively.

Alex Haydock-Wilson, Efekemo Okoro, Joshua Faulds and Alastair Chalmers ran a season’s best 3: 05.49 but could only finish fourth in the men’s 4x400m relay behind the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium.

Morgan Lake finished fifth in the women’s high jump, while Amy Hunt finished sixth in the women’s 60m.

Britain finished third in the medal table two years ago and needed at least one more gold to have any chance of matching that.

But their final position of seventh means they have finished outside the top three in the overall medal standings for the first time in seven editions of the European Indoors.

The team won three golds among six medals overall in 2023, but title-winners Keely Hodgkinson, Laura Muir and Jazmin Sawyers were all absent this time around.

Georgia Hunter Bell came in as GB’s big hope of gold but suffered huge disappointment in the women’s 1500m final, while world indoor pole vault champion Molly Caudery was a late injury withdrawal.

Ingebrigtsen, Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Femke Bol were the headline acts on the final day – and they all delivered.

Ingebrigtsen, 24, matched the record of seven European indoor gold medals held by Soviet-Ukrainian Valeriy Borzov, who won 50m and 60m titles in the 1970s when the event was held annually.

Ukrainian world record holder Mahuchikh coasted to a third consecutive indoor women’s high jump gold, clearing 1.99m as the rest of the field struggled to keep pace.

Serbia’s Angelina Topic cleared 1.95m to take silver, while Sweden’s Engla Nilsson secured bronze having cleared 1.92m at the first attempt.

Four-time Olympic medallist Bol had the final say, running the anchor leg as the Netherlands stormed to victory in the women’s 4x400m relay to top the medal table with six golds and two silvers.