Zoey in World Relays action in Poland

Monday 3rd May 2021

Pictured: Zoey with the Women’s 4x400m heats team – by Dan Vernon for World Athletics

Zoey Clark helped the GB&NI mixed 4x400m relay team to fifth place in the World Athletics Relays final in Silesia, Poland on Sunday, with team mates Lee Thompson, Yasmin Liverpool and Rabah Yousif. Her 52.41 split came on the heels of a run of 51.82 the previous day to win the Women’s 4x400m heat, which earned them a finals place and an ultimate third place finish (with Zoey switching to the mixed team for the finals).

In the mixed final, Zoey took up the baton from Thompson and powered around the bend with her eye on reaching the break first. From lane three, she achieved that goal and put GB&NI in the lead as they hit the 200m mark. A fast-finishing Brazil and Italy moved passed her on the home straight, but she handed to debutant, Liverpool, level with Belgium.

Speaking after the mixed relay final, Zoey said: “Lee put me in a really good position. Obviously on second leg you want to get ahead at the break because it sets the team up for the rest of the race. My target was to get us in a good position which luckily I managed to do.

“It was a really tight race with a lot of the girls coming back at me. I wanted my legs to give it a little bit more at the end but I was just trying to handover as well as I could.

“I was in the women’s race yesterday and we had a much clearer run, basically by ourselves. So I knew this was going to be a lot more competitive so that’s why I knew I had to get in front so that really spurred me on to go out hard.”

The performances earned both the women’s and mixed 4x400m relay teams places at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Below: Zoey with the full GB&NI squad, via @_ZoeyClark on twitter

4×4 squad ready to smash it at the World relays today in the Women’s, Men’s and Mixed races.
Competition starts at 6pm UK time and can be watched on BBC read button. pic.twitter.com/TvCdEPgLU8

— Zoey Clark (@_ZoeyClark) May 1, 2021