World Athletics Championship: What went wrong for GB’s relay squads in Tokyo?

London 2012 gold medallist Greg Rutherford called it “heartbreaking” for a team that bagged bronze in Paris just a year ago.

“The changeovers were beautiful from one to two and two to three. He’s just gone too soon.

“We have got to September, late in the season, and it is like everyone has forgotten how to pass the baton,” he added.

There was similar frustration in the women’s 4x400m – a team accustomed to success off the back of winning silver or bronze at nine of the past 10 world championships.

The quartet of Poppy Malik, Yemi Mary John, Nicole Yeargin and Victoria Ohuruogu finished last in their heat, which was deemed “not good enough” by Rutherford.

“Yes, it’s tough and conditions are hard but when there’s that much focus on an event, you can’t come last in your heat at a world championships.

“The four girls that went out there, they should be able to navigate a qualification. From my point of view, it’s genuinely not good enough.”

“We would expect them to qualify,” Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill added. “We’ve seen the success of the team in previous years. Where did it go wrong for that Great British team?”

It wasn’t total doom and gloom – the men’s 4x400m squad achieved a season’s best to reach Sunday’s final. The women’s 4x100m quartet also booked their place in the final with world 200m silver medallist Amy Hunt still to add into the mix.

With one day of the World Championships to go, Great Britain and Northern Ireland have three medals – two silvers and one bronze – and are 22nd in the medal table.

They had targeted a top eight finish and have medal chances in the relays, plus the women’s 800m and men’s 5,000m. However, they will fall short of the 2023 total of 10 medals, which was their joint highest haul.