Great Britain sit second after day one of European Athletics Team Championships

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 23 June 2023

GB sit second after day one of European Athletics Team Championships

Great Britain claim one silver and two bronze medals to sit second in the First Division of the European Athletics Team Championships.

Great Britain began their European Athletics Team Championships campaign in strong fashion with three medals in the First Division on Friday.

With one silver and two bronzes to their name - as well as a pair of fourth and fifth-placed finishes and three sixth-placed rankings - GB collected 131.50 points to sit behind runaway leaders Italy (141).

Hannah Nuttall was the standout performer for GB with a second-placed finish in the women's 5000m, crossing the line with 15:29.49 on the clock to nab a spot on the podium and 15 points for GB.

Nuttall finished nearly two seconds clear of Spain's Agueda Marques in bronze, but Italy's 2021 champion Nadia Battocletti stormed to the gold with a time of 15:25.09.

Meanwhile, Zak Seddon won 14 points for his nation by taking the bronze medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase, finishing comfortably inside the top three with 8:27.42 on the board.

Spain's Daniel Arce (8:25.88) and Sweden's Emil Blomberg (8:26.27) took first and second place respectively, before Jeremiah Azu equalled his season's best in the men's 100m for a third podium finish.

Britain's Zak Seddon in action at the European Games on June 23, 2023 © Reuters

Azu crossed the line in 10.16 seconds, just two hundredths of a second behind silver medallist Raphael Bouju, while Italy's Samuele Ceccarelli topped the standings with a personal best of 10.13.

Elsewhere, Ama Pipi posted a season's best time of 51.10 in the women's 400m to take fourth place, while Charlotte Payne just missed out on a top-three finish in the women's shot put with a distance of 71.14, 0.04 worse off than Poland's Malwina Kopron.

There was another season's best for Alex Haydock-Wilson in the men's 400m with 45.25 - good enough for fifth place - while Jude Bright-Davies also sneaked into the top five of the men's triple jump with 16.24m.

Meanwhile, 33 points were gleaned from three sixth-placed rankings in the men's 800m (Ben Pattison), women's discus (Jade Lally) and women's 100m (Bianca Williams), the latter running a 11.29 for her fastest time since becoming a mother.

Finally, Adam Hague cleared 5.30 in the men's pole vault, while Sarah Omoregie finished 15th in the women's shot put with 14.43.