Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake urges GB to look to future after relay bronze

Skipper Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake insists it is time to look to the future after Great Britain’s relay bronze.

The 28-year-old helped the 4x100m men’s relay squad to third at the World Championships on Saturday.

Jona Efoloko, Zharnel Hughes, Mitchell-Blake and Reece Prescod finished behind Canada and the USA in 37.83 seconds in Eugene.

A new team helped banish some of the pain from last year’s Olympics when Hughes, Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty and CJ Ujah won silver, only to be stripped of their medal following Ujah’s positive drugs test.

Mitchell-Blake said: “It’s fuel for the fire going forward. We cannot control the past, we can control the present and ultimately that dictates the future and that’s what we’ve got to focus on.

“There are no demons, we’re all blessed. We get a medal every year, it’s becoming normalised and under appreciated.

“I feel relay medals are brushed under the rug due to our consistency on the men’s and women’s teams. When the medal tables come out there are always relay medals and we step up every year.

“We all stepped up and we have shown over the years our quality consistently now. Everyone has shown they are capable of stepping in.

“Ultimately the aim is to come away from the next world champs with a gold and go onto Paris. It is a stepping stone, we will get better and we have got to raise our game going forward.

“We will enjoy this moment together, appreciate the fact that we got a medal and refocus after this to the rest of the season.”

Prescod ran just his second senior relay, after his debut in the heats, with Efoloko also drafted into the team for the first time.

“I got asked to do a job for the team. It was my first relay and I wanted to deliver for the team. I’m glad they trusted me