Lorraine Ugen won bronze in the women's long jump, while Marc Scott took third in the men's 3000 metres final on the final day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade; the medals are the only two won by British athletes at the three-day event
Sunday 20 March 2022 20:06, UK
Lorraine Ugen and Marc Scott ensured Great Britain avoided leaving the World Indoor Championships empty-handed.
The pair claimed bronze in the long jump and 3000m respectively on Sunday just as it looked like the squad would return from Serbia without a medal for the first time since 1996.
Ugen jumped 6.82m in Belgrade to win her second world indoor bronze, after also coming third in Portland in 2016.
She said: "It's been a little while as I've suffered with injuries and was deciding whether to retire or not, not having sponsorship behind me, but I was like 'you have to put the work in and do this to get back on the podium' to prove to myself that I can be back at the elite level again.
"I scared myself at the beginning with those two fouls and I was like 'please don't do this, don't foul three times' so I was so happy to get that third round jump in and it was enough to get on the podium.
"I wanted to come out here and get a season's best but secretly I wanted another national record, as my personal best is from here and I knew I liked this track and wanted a cheeky British record - but it's OK we'll save that for the outdoors, it's coming, hopefully."
Scott ran seven minutes 42.02 seconds to finish behind Ethiopian duo Selemon Barega and Lamecha Girma on Sunday.
He said: "I had it in my head that I wanted a medal and it weighed pretty heavily at times. You never know what's going to happen in these races. I knew if I could get around a lot of bodies going into the last lap it would be very hard for them to come back past me.
"The race was choppy and bruising but that's the way it goes. I have blood on my shin but I can't feel that now. I'm sure I will later when all this sinks in. It doesn't dampen anything and the pain is worth it to come away with a medal.
"I've always believed this is my level but I always had minor setbacks going into the major championships. This year I knew I could compete. It gives me great confidence going forwards."
Defending champion Andrew Pozzi failed to make the final of the 60m hurdles at the Stark Arena, with the Brit clocking 7.60 seconds in his heat and semi-final but not quick enough to advance to the final.
The USA's Grant Holloway equalled his own indoor world record of 7.29 seconds in the semi-final before winning gold in 7.39secs, while Britain's Dave King came sixth in the final in 7.62s after his name was dramatically pulled out of a bag to secure his spot.
King and Japan's Shusei Nomoto recorded the exact same time in the semi-finals. They ran 7.57s in their respective races and, with nothing to separate them, their names were drawn from a bag to decide who made the final. King advanced to his first global championship final after his bib was pulled out in the call room.
Neil Gourley was sixth in the 1500m, with the men's 4x400m relay team of Alex Haydock-Wilson, Ben Higgins, Samuel Reardon and Guy Learmonth also sixth. The women's squad of Hannah Williams, Ama Pipi, Yemi Mary John and Jessie Knight came fifth.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Mondo Duplantis set a new world indoor pole vault record after he cleared 6.20m to win gold. Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas also bettered her own world record in the women's triple jump, leaping 15.74 metres to win gold.
