The 4x400m heats were a disaster for Great Britain in the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Jamaica set the world lead in the 4x400m relay, clocking 3:22.77, which was ultimately broken by the USA in the finals with a new championship record time of 3:16.62. Norway came second in 3:23.84, a new National Record, with Henriette Jaeger being a good 49.84-second leg. Poland finished third, and Great Britain? Well, they finished eighth, which irked former Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford.

Speaking about his country’s failure to medal during the relay event, Britain’s top athlete questioned the National Track & Field Federation regarding the struggles. “I’ll be totally honest. Look, I’m all about building everybody up and giving all a fair chance. That’s not good enough. And we have to put that into perspective. This is a programme that a lot of money is put into. The athletes generally focus on as well.”

These were the words of Greg Rutherford, the man who won the Olympic gold in the long jump at the 2012 London Games with a leap of 8.31 meters. It marked Britain’s first Olympic long jump medal since 1964. He was so unhappy with how the GB performed in the heats of the 4x400m. The program gets the money it desires, but the athletes’ lack of results frustrates the former Olympic champion.

“So, yes, it’s tough, and we know conditions are hard and everything else. But when there is that much focus on an event, you can’t be coming last in your heat at a World Championships. And listen, we’re talking, we could have had Amber going there as well. I guess that’s going to help. But the four girls that went out there should be able to navigate a qualification. So from my point of view, genuinely, I don’t think it’s good enough,” he added. In those heats, it was Victoria Ohuruogu, Poppy Malik, Nicole Yeargin, and Yemi Mary John for the British team, and they were well behind the standard benchmark.

Ohuruogu ran 51.78 seconds, more than 2 seconds slower than Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce, and Malik ran 51.96, a bit faster than Jamaica’s Roneisha McGregor but still not enough to make up ground. Starting way behind like this made it hard for the team to catch up. Nicole Yeargin ran 51.11, significantly faster than the first two, but none of the British runners broke 50 seconds, while Jamaica and Poland each had at least one runner under 50. Yemi Mary John was the fastest for Britain at 50.99 seconds, still over a second slower than the leading competitors.

As the Olympic champion pointed out, Amber Anning was not on the team. The 2025 outdoor season for Amber Anning was a new beginning: she destroyed the British 400m record with 49.29 at Stade Charlety in Paris on June 20, 2025. She followed that with the same time the following day in the World Championships, where she went 49.38 to be assured of a spot in the final. Moreover, Anning achieved a season-leading time, which made her the most successful 400m competitor in Britain and a star on the relay. With all the issues concerning Britain’s track and field, they created another record, reiterating the same problem.

Britain creates unwanted history at the World Athletics Championships

Great Britain and Northern Ireland ended the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo without a gold medal, the first since 2003. The team ranked 21st in the medal table, having secured three silver and two bronze medals. Jake Wightman came close to winning the 1500m men’s race in second place, losing to our Portuguese competitor, Isaac Nader, by a margin of two-hundredths a second. Georgia Hunter-Bell took silver in the women’s 800m in a personal best of 1:54.90, with Keely Hodgkinson, the current Olympic champion, taking bronze at 1:54.91. That was a big surprise.

“It’s been a s**t show. I mean an absolute s**t show,” admitted Hodgkinson in an interview after the race. “I think when you look at some of the greats in all sports there’s years where they haven’t done as well, they’ve missed podiums, they’ve missed a complete year, they’ve missed the championships, and somehow I’ve managed to stay on that trajectory, which I think is incredible,” she added. A hamstring tear had derailed Keely Hodgkinson’s season in February 2025, causing her to miss the beginning of the season and resulting in her being held back until August.

It’s incredible that Great Britain did not win any gold medals at the World Championships. The country is hitting the reset button for a team that won two gold medals at the 2023 World Championships. Hopefully, they can rally together and produce results that help the nation win more medals in the future.