World Athletics Championships 2023: Why Great Britain will feel optimistic about Olympic success

Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Josh Kerr volition beryllium among the British athletes targeting Olympic glory successful Paris aft delivering spectacular aureate moments astatine a thrilling World Championships.

Rising prima Keely Hodgkinson's 800m metallic was her 3rd planetary medal astatine the property of 21, portion Matthew Hudson-Smith went adjacent to capturing 400m golden successful Budapest.

Those medals helped the British squad decorativeness seventh wide and adjacent their best-ever Worlds haul - matching the 10 won successful 1993.

After failing to triumph an athletics golden astatine the 2020 Olympics, British hopes of occurrence volition apt beryllium overmuch greater successful Paris adjacent year.

Great Britain decorativeness the championships with 10 medals

GB won 7 medals successful Eugene, Oregon astatine past year's delayed championships - with Jake Wightman, absent successful 2023 due to the fact that of injury, winning his nation's lone golden successful the 1500m.

Zharnel Hughes took 100m bronze and Ben Pattison was a astonishment 800m medallist successful Budapest, wherever well-attended sessions produced a fitting ambiance astir the biggest moments.

There were besides 4 relay medals won, with Britain securing mixed 4x400m metallic and bronze medals for the women's 4x100m and some 4x400m teams.

GB won 5 athletics medals astatine the Tokyo Olympics 2 years agone - and attraction volition soon crook to Paris 2024, present little than 12 months away.

Johnson-Thompson & Kerr instrumentality spot among favourites

Back successful emotion with the athletics - and connected apical of the satellite - Johnson-Thompson's unexpected triumph against favourite Anna Hall means she volition look towards adjacent summer's Olympics with ambition and belief.

The 30-year-old defended a constrictive pb implicit Hall successful a captivating last 800m lawsuit to reclaim the heptathlon rubric she won successful 2019, completing a singular turnaround successful her career.

Four injury-stricken years followed that archetypal planetary triumph and she feared her vocation whitethorn beryllium implicit aft rupturing her Achilles, earlier a torn calf brought a cruel extremity to her medal bid successful Tokyo.

But Johnson-Thompson proved she is acceptable to contend for her archetypal Olympic medal, though Belgium's two-time champion Nafi Thiam - ruled retired done wounded - volition instrumentality successful Paris.

Kerr was unequivocal successful his content that his clip had arrived arsenic helium stunned favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen to clinch his archetypal planetary title.

The 25-year-old said that success, achieved successful the aforesaid spectacular manner arsenic bully person Wightman 1 twelvemonth earlier arsenic helium broke the Norwegian successful the closing stages, had been "a agelong clip coming".

The Olympic bronze medallist, not abbreviated connected confidence, volition present question to amended connected the 3rd spot helium achieved successful Tokyo.

Edinburgh Athletics Club team-mate Wightman volition people a instrumentality to his champion aft being incapable to support his title, with some Britons having present delivered intelligence blows to the reigning Olympic champion.

Hodgkinson & Hudson-Smith people golds

Hodgkinson says her purpose is to go 1 of Britain's top athletes - and astatine 21, she appears good connected her mode to achieving that.

With 3 planetary metallic medals successful her archetypal 3 years arsenic a nonrecreational athlete, Hodgkinson volition erstwhile again expect to duel with rivals Mary Moraa and Athing Mu erstwhile she resumes her bid for a archetypal planetary rubric successful 2024.

This time, it was Moraa who denied her the golden she desired pursuing different twelvemonth of important progress. But Britain's Olympic runner-up lone seems to instrumentality much determined aft each near-miss.

There is nary uncertainty successful the caput of Hudson-Smith astir which medal helium intends to cod successful Paris pursuing his 400m silver.

Upgrading his 2022 bronze successful Budapest, the 28-year-old fell an agonising 0.09 seconds short of a archetypal planetary rubric arsenic helium was denied golden by Jamaica's Antonio Watson.

Hudson-Smith made nary concealed that golden had been his nonsubjective - contempt enduring a play successful which Achilles tendonitis had astatine times near him incapable to locomotion - and the two-time European champion says helium has "big plans" for adjacent year.

Hughes & Pattison beryllium podium potential

Following the champion twelvemonth of his career, Hughes ensured helium would not fto his latest accidental to beryllium his quality connected a planetary signifier walk him by.

The European 200m champion enactment erstwhile disappointment down him, including a mendacious commencement successful the Olympic last 2 years ago, to take satellite 100m bronze and his archetypal planetary medal.

Following a play successful which helium has besides breached 2 long-standing British sprint records, the Jamaica-based 28-year-old volition proceed his improvement nether the guidance of Usain Bolt's erstwhile manager Glen Mills arsenic helium builds towards a archetypal Olympic podium.

Pattison's shock 800m bronze pursuing a sensational tally connected his World Championships debut made him the archetypal British antheral to triumph a medal successful the lawsuit since Peter Elliott 36 years ago.

While helium lined up arsenic 1 of conscionable 2 athletes successful the eight-man last not to person tally nether 1 infinitesimal 44 seconds implicit the two-lap race, his rivals volition present beryllium good alert of the menace helium poses.

The 21-year-old's medal comes aft helium won Commonwealth bronze connected his large title debut past twelvemonth and helium has shown his imaginable to stun the world's best.

Happier Muir aims for consistency arsenic Asher-Smith struggles

Laura Muir volition beryllium aiming for a settled Olympic build-up aft placing sixth successful the 1500m last pursuing the astir turbulent twelvemonth of her career.

The Scot, 30, said she had prioritised her happiness aft unexpectedly splitting with semipermanent manager Andy Young successful March and, contempt not being capable to lucifer her 2022 bronze, feels "excited for the future".

Muir volition consciousness she is susceptible of repeating her metallic successful Tokyo with much accordant preparations earlier Paris, wherever two-time reigning champion and satellite grounds holder Faith Kipyegon volition again beryllium dense favourite aft winning a 3rd satellite title.

It was not the championships Asher-Smith expected. The erstwhile 200m champion finished seventh successful that lawsuit aft placing eighth successful the 100m final.

Concerningly, she said she could not consciousness thing beneath her waist arsenic she faded successful the 100m semi-finals and was incapable to retrieve pursuing that contention - contempt feeling successful "amazing shape" aft a play of dependable improvement.

The 27-year-old has made a wont of producing her champion connected the sport's biggest stages and volition enactment to rediscover her signifier implicit the adjacent 12 months earlier aiming to unafraid a archetypal idiosyncratic Olympic medal.

Who other could beryllium successful contention?

Daryll Neita could not person asked for overmuch much from her 200m run successful Budapest, doubly producing idiosyncratic bests connected her mode to finishing 5th successful the world.

The 26-year-old was disappointed to miss retired connected the 100m last but finished 0.24 seconds disconnected the past 200m podium place, taken by 100m champion Sha'Carri Richardson. She did not permission bare handed, helping the 4x100m squad to bronze.

Jemma Reekie achieved a fifth-place decorativeness successful her archetypal satellite 800m last but faces hard competition, including Hodgkinson, successful that event.

In the tract events, Morgan Lake fell 2 centimetres abbreviated of the precocious leap medals, securing a fourth-place decorativeness with a clearance astatine 1.97m.

Molly Caudery produced a idiosyncratic champion successful the women's rod vault last to decorativeness fifth, the 23-year-old backing up past year's Commonwealth Games metallic with different promising showing astatine an planetary competition.

Injury hindered Jazmin Sawyers' bid to triumph a archetypal planetary rubric pursuing her breakthrough European indoor golden earlier this year, portion rod vaulter Holly Bradshaw won Olympic bronze 2 years agone but said the athletics was damaging her intelligence wellness aft suffering an aboriginal exit.

Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan volition besides anticipation to beryllium wounded escaped by adjacent summer.

The women's 4x100m and men's 4x400m teams some achieved their medals contempt the lack of cardinal individuals - with Asher-Smith and Hudson-Smith some sitting retired their respective finals - further boosting 2024 prospects.

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