Amber Anning became the first British woman to win an indoor 400m world title after a messy final in Nanjing after pole vault favourite Molly Caudery came an agonising fourth
Amber Anning went the long way round before charging to 400m glory and declared: “That was a bit messy.” But after surviving some bumps, the double Olympic relay medalist finished like a train to become the first British woman to win an indoor world title over two laps and deliver a second gold for a slimmed-down team in Nanjing.
That triumph briefly left Britain top of the medal table – only for the United States to later overtake them thanks to Grant Holloway’s latest 60m hurdles win – and brought smiles back to the squad’s faces after pole vault hope Molly Caudery earlier came an agonising fourth in the pole vault.
Starting in the outside lane, Anning ran a controlled opening lap and briefly led at the bell. But American Alexis Holmes forcefully nudged Anning off the rails and looked primed for the win coming through the final bend.
Except Anning, fuelled by the disappointment of false starting at the Europeans a fortnight ago, found an additional boost down the straight to win by 0.03secs.
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And having glanced at the arena’s big screen to confirm she would not be disqualified again, Anning said: “It feels amazing.
“Obviously it felt way harder than (the heats), all battling to get the break, it wasn’t the cleanest race and I probably could have done a better job with that. But the goal was just to win and get my first individual title. I’m so grateful.
“I just dipped at the end to get the edge and win. I wasn’t sure (I won), I thought I’d just got there. I saw my name on the screen and there was a sigh of relief.”
There was no such joy for Caudery, who battled through a pole vault competition beset by technical difficulties to finish one spot off the podium.
The equipment that raises the bar had a fault requiring lengthy repairs and when the competition restarted Caudery, who has been battling minor injuries all winter, could only get over 4.7m as France’s Marie-Julie Bonnin claimed gold in 4.75m.
“It was definitely not what I wanted,” Caudery said. “I am disappointed to say the least. It was a really, really, tough competition and there were a lot of technical issues, but I don’t want to put any excuses out.”
Mondo Duplantis, unbeaten for two years, was forced to briefly sweat in the men’s event by Greece ’s Emmanouil Karalis but eventually prevailed by jumping 6.15m.
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