Britain repeat their third place from the 2016 Olympics with great runs but poor change-overs in Tokyo on Friday

There really wasn’t too much doubt that Jamaica would win the 4x100m by a distance after the 100m final barring a baton failure.

In the earlier 100m final, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson gained a 1-2-3 – all inside 10.76 – and their so-called weak link was Briana Williams, the teenage double world junior champion who has run 10.97 this summer.

As expected they won easily with Williams handing over to Thompson-Herah, who won her third gold of the Games, and the team was completed by Fraser-Pryce and Jackson and they won in a national record 41.02, although perhaps with better change-overs they could have challenged the world record of the USA set in London 2012. Jamaica also weren’t helped by a 0.188 reaction time by Williams, which is one of the slowest of the Games so far.

It was the third fastest time all-time behind the world record and USA’s 41.01 from Rio.

The defending champion’s team of Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini and Gabrielle Thomas were surprisingly close given their relative 100m times and they set a season’s best of 41.45.

Britain were third but only after some ragged change-overs which involved a few near misses with the take-off zone and athletes slowing to get the baton but the team of Asha Philip (0.121 reaction time!), Imani Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita still ran 41.88.

Neita showed all her new-found sub-11 speed to go from fifth to third and run a way from a strong Switzerland team who ran 42.08 and who had two runners ahead of the leading runner from the USA and Britain in the 100m final.

China and France were sixth and seventh with Netherlands failing to finish.

Britain thus matched their bronze of 2016. It was their seventh bronze medal and they also have two silvers.

Asher-Smith, who will pleased to leave Tokyo with a medal after her injury problems, said: “I think I’m in a bit of mixed emotions because obviously as me, the competitor, I’m like ‘I could have done this and this, get a tenth, pushed for a different colour of medal’. But at the same time I was on crutches six weeks ago and there was a less than 10% chance that I was going to be here.

“I knew that what actually hurt so much about the 100m and 200m is that all I need is another week, two weeks, and then I’ll literally be back to my normal speed. I’m obviously moving faster here and yesterday than I was last week but that’s obviously how recovery from these things goes.

“Every day there’s progress, which I’ve seen physically, with my hamstring itself but also in terms of my form. You just improve every day so I knew we had another week till the relay, train, train, train, and make sure I was as fast as possible in the time that I had for these ladies.”

Philip said:”We just obviously want to make a scene – we’re not just going to give you something nice, we want you to have pressure, we’re entertainers!”

Neita said: “I haven’t actually seen it (the final leg). I was just patiently waiting to see Dina and she came flying into me as she would. I just did my best to bring it home for the girls and honestly we’ve worked so hard as a team, this medal means a lot to us.

“We’ve been through so much. I’m just super happy, it’s been an amazing championships for me personally – first sub 11, made the Olympic final, now coming home with a bronze medal, I can’t really complain!”