GB fail to win gold for first time in 20 years - where it went wrong

Great Britain and Northern Ireland grounded to triumph a golden badge astatine a World Athletics Championships for nan first clip successful 22 years, arsenic they secured their joint-lowest wide return since 2005.

GB ended nan nine-day title pinch a full of 5 medals, level pinch their 2019 tally successful Doha, while they past won less 20 years agone successful Helsinki - wherever they vanished pinch three.

Great Britain caput coach Paula Dunn told BBC Sport that nan purpose for Tokyo was to triumph 5 to 8 medals - but nary target was group for a badge array finish.

The 64-strong British squad vanished 21st successful nan badge table.

The team's fortunes were summed up successful nan arena which provided their last badge opportunity successful Japan, arsenic nan women's 4x100m relay quartet - winners of Olympic metallic past twelvemonth - vanished two-tenths of a 2nd disconnected nan podium.

That confirmed Great Britain would neglect to triumph a relay medal, of immoderate colour, for nan first clip since Paris successful 2003.

That was besides nan past juncture they vanished without a gold.

It comes aft nan squad equalled their champion haul of 10 medals to decorativeness seventh astatine nan erstwhile World Championships 2 years ago.

On that occasion, they brought location 2 golden medals, 3 silvers and 5 bronze from Budapest.

They besides achieved GB's champion return astatine an Olympics for 40 years pinch 10 athletics medals astatine Paris 2024.

Reflecting connected nan championships, Dunn said: "Definitely a mixed bag. Five medals which is bully and I'm pleased to see, and immoderate missed opportunities.

"So it's clip for america to spell backmost beryllium down pinch nan coaches and athletes, bespeak and do a reappraisal and spot really we move forward."

In Tokyo, Jake Wightman ended GB's badge hold connected time 5 pinch men's 1500m silver, earlier Amy Hunt claimed her first world individual badge pinch metallic successful nan women's 200m.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson shared bronze successful a melodramatic heptathlon finale connected Saturday.

Georgia Hunter Bell led Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson to a British badge double successful nan women's 800m final, nevertheless their bid for a stunning one-two was spoiled by Kenya's Lilian Odira successful Tokyo.

There was immoderate misfortune among nan disappointment, pinch defending 1500m champion Josh Kerr, Olympic and world 400m metallic medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith and 2024 world indoor rod vault champion Molly Caudery each suffering injuries.

Elsewhere, marathon runner Emile Cairess could not complete nan men's marathon, which took spot amid precocious temperatures and stifling humidity.

Despite relay medals supplying 5 of GB's 10 athletics medals astatine past summer's Games, location was nary occurrence present - pinch nan men's 4x100m quartet failing to get nan baton information successful their heat.

Tokyo ended a tally of 5 successive years pinch a world championships, though World Athletics will clasp its inaugural Ultimate Championships adjacent twelvemonth to capable nan spread earlier nan World Championships successful Beijing successful 2027.

During nan championships, nan conditions successful which nan athletes person had to compete and nan region betwixt the warm-up facilities and nan stadium person some been raised arsenic issues.

Temperatures supra 30C were accompanied by stifling humidity passim nan mostly of nan championships.

Cairess, a badge dream aft placing 4th astatine nan Paris Olympics past summer, said he "just sewage excessively hot" aft dropping retired of nan men's marathon pinch little than 3 of nan 26.2 miles remaining.

Dunn said nan humidity successful peculiar had "surprised us".

"We knew it was going to beryllium basking and humid but 1 time you could spot nan humidity successful nan sky, it was truthful thick.

"We did arsenic overmuch mentation arsenic we tin successful position of power mentation but it is incredibly difficult to negociate it. We had an crystal strategy, a cooling strategy.

"Because we're coming to Beijing successful 2027, we've had a dress rehearsal. We cognize Beijing is going to beryllium precisely for illustration this truthful nan athletes that person knowledgeable it are going beryllium fresh for it and that's going to beryllium an advantage."

Meanwhile, World Athletics president Lord Coe said nan location of nan warm-up accommodation was "not perfect" pursuing complaints from athletes including Great Britain's Hodgkinson.

As Yoyogi Park, wherever nan main warm-up installation is located, is simply a 2.5-km thrust to nan stadium, taking astir 15 minutes, athletes had to drawback a autobus astir an hr earlier competing.

Hodgkinson described nan business arsenic "draining".

Dunn said: "We were alert nan region and we did arsenic overmuch mentation arsenic we could arsenic it was an different situation.

"It was nan aforesaid for everybody other truthful it wasn't conscionable america and I can't usage that arsenic an excuse.

"Everyone's assemblage is different. Some group could negociate that unaffected, different group it was impacting them. We do cognize immoderate group were impacted."

Sport backing assemblage UK Sport pledged a grounds finance successful Britain's Olympic and Paralympic sports for nan 2028 Games successful Los Angeles.

However, UK Athletics was awarded £20.45m for nan existent cycle,, external compared to £22.7m successful nan lead-up to Paris 2024.

Jack Buckner, main executive of UK Athletics, said nan organisation was "disappointed" pinch nan determination to trim nan sport's share.

Buckner referenced nan badge hauls successful 2023 and 2024 arsenic impervious nan athletics "deserved a higher level of investment".

But Dunn anticipates further backing will follow, contempt nan team's little return successful Tokyo.

"I don't deliberation it impacted enormously [here]. We're doing everything we request to do, possibly not everything we want to do," Dunn said.

"We're truthful grateful to get that lottery support. Yes nan champion successful nan world are catching up but we're still very privileged truthful nan grant is going to beryllium capable for america to header with.

"Over nan rhythm we'll hopefully get further investment. Currently it's not impacted excessively much."

Reflecting connected GB's performance, retired four-time world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill said connected BBC TV: "It has to beryllium [a springboard to do better].

"We talk astir nan twelvemonth aft an Olympics being a funny year, whether that's done injuries aliases changes. There's a batch going connected but we can't contradict nan truth we're disappointed.

"We expected a fewer much opportunities and we've travel distant pinch 5 medals which we've sewage to observe because they were awesome performances.

"But we can't get distant from nan truth we've not taken a golden from these championships and that's tough."

On nan nonaccomplishment of nan relay teams to triumph a badge for nan first clip since 2003, Ennis-Hill added: "That's not a bully statistic. We understand championships are tough. You travel successful pinch injuries and tons of things hap on nan measurement and nan pressure, but we person ever won medals successful nan relay.

"I don't cognize if it's down to structuring of nan team, nan members, nan staff, nan backing - there's truthful galore different parts and I'm judge GB will spell distant and look astatine this."

Jenny Meadows, coach of 800m medallists Hunter Bell and Hodgkinson, said: "We've talked astir individuals and what happens nan twelvemonth aft nan Olympic Games.

"Sometimes you tin get lulled into that mendacious consciousness of information reasoning 'we're location and accordant and we tin support doing it'."