Rome 2024: Great Britain target gold medal rush on final day as Daryll Neita has shot at redemption
Daryll Neita has a shot at redemption on Wednesday night as one the pivotal figures in Britain's 4x100metre women's relay team, after she missed out on gold at the European Athletics Championships last night.
The Londoner had been favourite for a first major individual title in the 200m, but was pipped to the line by Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji by one-hundredth of a second.
While it was a season's best for Neita, for whom Rome was something of a home championships, having trained in Italy for the past three years, frustratingly she had run seven times quicker for the distance last season alone.
She will join forces with Dina Asher-Smith among others in her quest for a golden finish on what is the last night of these championships.
"I am honestly just so disappointed, because I really wanted that medal. I know how much I should have got that," she said after her individual event. "I'm upset at myself, because I came here for the gold.
"I thought it was close on the line, I could feel myself dipping, which isn't my strongest thing."
Following the relay, Neita will then turn her attention to the long build-up to the Paris Olympics, where the relay will likely be her best shot for a medal.
Looking ahead to post-Rome, she said: "I'm grateful to finish the race healthy. It is still the middle of the season, so I can't let this dictate how my season goes. There are bigger things happening this season.
"I'm really confident in who I am, what I'm capable of and where I'm at. I need to get back to work. There's still time and I'm still confident of what I can achieve this summer."
As well as the relay, Britain have further shots at gold in the women's 800m in particular, where Keely Hodgkinson is the overwhelming favourite after her strong start to the 2024 season. Charlie Dobson, silver medallist in the 400m, will spearhead the 4x400m relay quartet, while Neil Gourley (below, bottom image) goes in the 1500m.
The penultimate day of action proved a mixed one for the British contingent. Britain's men had a handover horror in the 4x100m heats and did not qualify for the final, while Lina Nielsen finished outside the medals in the 400m hurdles, having shown promise earlier in the championships.
Eilish McColgan, perhaps a surprise addition to the team after missing so much training time because of a knee injury, failed to finish the 10,000m final.
Afterwards, she said: "I am absolutely gutted, but there was nothing there. I got to halfway and thought, 'I'm in trouble'. I even felt a little bit dizzy towards the end. I was hoping for maybe a little bit of a miracle today after a lack of training, but miracles don't really exist in distance running."
But there was a brighter note in that same race as Megan Keith, who had only taken up the event in the past year, earned herself a bronze medal to put a weakened British team in fifth place in the medal table.
The 22-year-old, however, was honest enough to admit that 25 laps of the track was something she found somewhat dull.
"I'm getting to grips with how mundane it is," said Keith. "I find them [the 10,000m races I watch on TV] pretty boring. I enjoy them more than I let one, but I stand by it being monotonous.
"But I'm really happy, though. I gave it a shot for the brighter colour, but you can't not be happy with a bronze."
