Scots play their part as GB teams at World Relays qualify for Olympics

Monday 6th May 2024

Three top Scottish sprinters were with the GB and NI team competing at the World Relays in the Bahamas over the weekend.

And it was brilliant to see all three – Nicole Yeargin, Brodie Young and Alyson Bell – see action in this global event and enjoy succces

Alyson was on the first leg as the Women’s 4x100m team took bronze in their final and Brodie and Nicole teamed up in the Mixed Relay to clinch their place in the Olympics.

Earlier, Nicole was in the Women’s 4x400m team who secured their Paris qualification, too.

Having finished third in their semi on Saturday night, the 4x400m Mixed Relay team made excellent use of their second chance this evening with a dominant victory in their repechage heat.

Brodie Young, coached by James McMenemy, gave the team a solid top three handover, before Laviai Nielse took the team into contention in her final strides.

She handed over to Charlie Dobson, who in taking the lead was never likely to be caught by the rest of the third leg field, and although the field reduced the gap slightly at one point, Dobson stretched away again down the home straight giving Nicole Yeargin an unassailable lead.

Nicole, after a superb split the previous day for the Women’s 4x400m tea, ran a solo effort to maintain the gap, bringing the team home in 3:12.99, ahead of second placed Ukraine.

A special performance ✨

Our Women’s 4x100m team showed what they can do to take #WorldRelay bronze 🥉 pic.twitter.com/9YPDcFdsZr

— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) May 6, 2024

Brodie said: ‘It’s a massive honour that the coaches here and the athletes had enough trust in me to be involved in the team to start us off.

‘I am going to use this experience for future competitions, I’m eyeing up that spot in Paris so it’s a really good start for me to be in an environment like this.

‘That extra ten metres – the legs don’t have it, but its all in the mind, you just need to think why you’re doing this, all that was going through my head was ‘try get the team to Paris’!

So as my legs were starting to get tired, I was thinking ‘Paris . . . Paris . . .Paris,’ just keeping that ambition in my mind was what got me to finish the race.

‘It does put your mind at ease knowing you have Laviai, Charlie and Nicole to carry on the momentum I have created at the start, it does relieve the stress a little bit but at the end of the day anything can still happen, so I was still a bit on edge but mainly my mind was rested.’

Hot on the heels of the impressive Mixed Relay performance came the only medal of the night for GB & NI as the women’s 4x100m team took bronze with 42.80 behind the USA and France.

The achievement was even more impressive with half the line changing overnight. The new line up was led off by Alyson Bell, who is coached by Anne Scott, with Amy Hunt switching from anchor to second leg.

Bianca Williams ran her usual strong third leg before passing the baton over to Aleeya Sibbons to anchor the team home in third.

Alyson said: ‘I’m absolutely over the moon. I think I was more nervous in the heats watching the girls get the baton round, it was so quick.

‘I joined in and it was so much fun, the Bahamas crowd and the heat . . .it was all so overwhelming but in the best way, and it was so fun, and I am so happy!.’