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- Wales’ Joe Brier Into Finland Final
There were mixed fortunes for Welsh athletes competing at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Finland on Saturday.
Swansea Harrier Joe Brier and his 4x400m relay team-mates qualified for Sunday’s final in fine style by winning their heat in a world lead time.
However, it wasn’t to be for James Tomlinson who failed to qualify for the discus final.
The Pembrokeshire Harrier threw 54.95m in qualifying group A early on Saturday morning, but it wasn’t enough to bring him a place amongst the 10 finalists.
A disappointed Tomlinson said afterwards: “I don’t know what went wrong, it just wasn’t meant to be. It means a lot to be here but I can’t think about that now.
“I have to look forward to next year now and get some big throws out for the rest of the season because I know what I’m capable of and they’re standard throws that I produced today.
“I really saw myself as a competitor but not today.”
He later posted on twitter: “All I can say is I’m sorry. This loss has hit me hard but if you think I’m done then you’re a fool.
“The fight is going to be hard but I’m not giving up. What I’ve sacrificed to be here isn’t funny but for everyone who supports me thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
In stark contrast, Brier’s 4x400m squad qualified impressively for Sunday’s final by winning their heat in a world junior lead time of 3:07.17.
They fought off the challenge of Jamaica and a Belgium team boasting one of the famous dynasty of Borlee brothers and the newly crowned 400m world junior champion Jonathan Sacoor.
Brier ran an excellent second leg for Great Britain, having received the baton from Alex Haydock-Wilson, keeping them well in contention at the front of the race when he handed over to Ellis Gratrex.
By the final leg the GB team were lying in second place to Jamaica, but Alex Knibbs reeled in the Jamaican anchor leg runner to bring his team home in first place.
Jamaica were ultimately disqualified, while the Belgians finished in second place with Japan third.
Brier said afterwards: “Alex gave me a huge lead. I wanted to get to the break first and I managed to do that and held on all the way through before these guys carried us home. Everyone delivered.”
Greatrex added: “It fell so daunting. We’ve not been able to come down to the track and watch everyone else compete because we’ve had to rest but to come out and perform how we did and to get the fastest 4X400m junior time in the world this year is completely amazing.”
The British team’s hold on the world lead was short lived as it was beaten by the American team in the final heat with a time of 3:05.57, but their performance bodes well for Sunday’s final, which will be the final event of the Championships.
