Team GB's miserable world championships continued on Monday night as Laura Muir and Sophie Hitchon both missed out on medals.
Hitchon, who won bronze in the women's hammer at last year's Rio Olympics, finished a disappointing seventh, more than five metres behind gold medallist Anita Woldarczyk of Poland. According to The Guardian, the Briton "sobbed in the bowels of the London stadium" as she came to terms with her failure, later telling reporters: "I'm going to beat myself up for a while after this."
British Athletics performance director, Neil Black, had suggested a tally of six medals would be a respectable return for Team GB at these championships but with four days of competition gone Mo Farah's gold in the 10,000 metres is the solitary success, and apart from his 5,000m it's hard to see from where more might come.
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Laura Muir was expected to win a medal in the 1500m but the Scot was beaten into fourth in a thrilling race won by Kenya's Faith Kipyegon in a time of 4min 02.59sec. Silver went to American Jenny Simpson, the 30-year-old storming past Muir in the home straight, as did Caster Semenya of South Africa, who just edged out the British athlete for the bronze.
Just 0.07seconds separated Muir from a medal, another cruel outcome for the 24-year-old, who finished fifth in last year's Olympics. "I gave it everything I could but the last 50 metres I just tied up and they flew past me," said Muir. "I knew it was close. It happened so late in the race I couldn't react."
Asked if there were any positives she could take from the defeat, she replied: "I'm making huge steps each time. I think there is a lot more I can do."
Muir refused to be drawn into the ongoing debate over Semenya, the Olympic 800m champion, who suffers from hyperandrogenism, a medical condition that means she has levels of testosterone three times higher than those of the average woman.
The Guardian says that the IAAF, athletics' world governing body, "is putting together a case to convince the court of arbitration for sport that Semenya's condition gives her an unfair advantage over her rivals". If successful, the IAAF could force Semenya to undergo hormone replacement therapy or bar her from competing in future competitions. Asked about the IAAF's stance in the wake of her bronze medal, Semenya said: "I really don't have time for nonsense. I do not think about something that might happen in eight months. I don't focus on the IAAF. It's not my business. My business is to train hard and see what I come up with in competition."
Muir closed down the subject with a testy "I've not got anything to say about that", sensibly refraining from echoing the comments of her fellow Scottish middle-distance runner Lynsey Sharp, who last year complained to the Daily Telegraph that it was "difficult" competing against inter-sex athletes.
Muir was followed over the finish line by Laura Weightman, who finished sixth in a time of 4:04.11. A decent time, and in the opinion of the Daily Telegraph the "Team GB representatives can go home with their heads held high". Unfortunately holding one's head high is no substitute for holding a medal.
