By Hannah Blackwell
Joe Brier earned a prized silver medal at the Athletics World Championships in Budapest, even though injury ruled him out of the mixed 4 x 400m relay final.
The Welsh star ran a superb opening leg in his heat even though he injured himself early in his run as Great Britain smashed the British record.
That ruled the Tokyo Olympian out of the final, but he still collected a medal as part of the squad that finished second behind the USA.
In a dramatic finish, Yemi Mary John capitalised on a fall from Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the last 10m to pinch silver in 3:11.06, taking 0.13s off the previous British record, set earlier on Saturday.
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Lewis Davey had replaced the injured Brier and set the team up perfectly with a measured first leg, handing over to Laviai Nielsen who moved the British team into third at the halfway point.
Rio Mitcham finished brilliantly to cement the quartet’s place in third spot on leg three and Yemi Mary John stole in for Britain’s first global medal in the event.
After the race, Nielsen said: “A huge mention to Joe.
“He hurt himself in the first 100m of that heat earlier and carried on for 300m. He is a team player and he deserves this medal as much as we do.
“Our team coach Martyn Rooney has been incredible and he said to me, I’m one of the more experienced members of this team so I had a responsibility to pep talk these guys.
“I know what it’s like to win a medal and how it can change your life. I told these guys that we are capable and we are strong enough so let’s go get it and we did.
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On the thought of receiving his medal, Mitcham added: “It means everything. Laviai gave us a really good pep talk in the call room on how a medal can change your life and that’s why I can’t stop smiling.
“We get a medal and we can take it back to the UK. Honestly, I’ll be feeling every single emotion.
“You feel the happiness, the highs and lows, everything. That’s what we’re in the sport for, that rush, that feeling when you get onto the track is everything.”
Last year, Brier competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and has established himself as a regular in the Great Britain team in recent years at the Tokyo Olympics and last year’s World Athletics Championships.
The Swansea Harrier was part of Great Britain’s gold medal-winning 4x400m at last season’s European Athletics Championships.
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