For the first time in 22 years, Great Britain and Northern Ireland have left the World Athletics Championships without a single gold medal, capping a challenging nine-day campaign in Tokyo with just five medals and a 21st-place finish on the medal table. This outcome equals their haul from Doha in 2019 and marks their joint-lowest return since 2005, a far cry from the double-digit medal successes of recent seasons.
The British squad, 64-strong and brimming with both established stars and rising talents, entered the championships with realistic hopes of securing between five and eight medals—a target set by head coach Paula Dunn. Yet, the absence of a gold, the first since Helsinki in 2005, stings for a program accustomed to podium-topping performances. Dunn reflected on the campaign with a mix of pride and candor, telling BBC Sport, "Definitely a mixed bag. Five medals which is good and I'm pleased to see, and some missed opportunities. So it's time for us to go back sit down with the coaches and athletes, reflect and do a review and see how we move forward."
Britain’s medal count was built on a series of gutsy individual performances. Jake Wightman ended the team’s early drought with a silver in the men’s 1500m on day five, showing resilience and tactical acumen. Shortly after, Amy Hunt celebrated her first global individual medal with a hard-fought silver in the women’s 200m—a breakthrough moment for the sprinter. In the heptathlon, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, renowned for her grit, battled through a dramatic finale to share bronze, adding to her already illustrious career.
Perhaps the brightest spark came in the women’s 800m final, where Georgia Hunter Bell led Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson to a British medal double. Their bid for a stunning one-two finish, however, was thwarted by Kenya's Lilian Odira, who surged ahead to claim gold in Tokyo. The British duo’s efforts still underscored the nation’s strength in middle-distance running, even as ultimate victory slipped away.
Yet, the championships were not without disappointment and misfortune. The women’s 4x100m relay quartet, who had claimed Olympic silver just last year, finished two-tenths of a second off the podium. This result marked the first time since Paris 2003 that Great Britain failed to win a relay medal of any color, breaking a long-standing tradition of relay excellence. The men’s 4x100m team, meanwhile, failed to complete their heat, further compounding the relay woes.
Injuries took their toll on key contenders. Defending 1500m champion Josh Kerr, Olympic and world 400m silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith, and 2024 world indoor pole vault champion Molly Caudery each suffered setbacks that curtailed their medal ambitions. The marathon proved equally punishing: Emile Cairess, a strong medal hope after placing fourth at the Paris Olympics, was forced to drop out with less than three miles remaining, citing the oppressive heat and humidity. Cairess later summed up his ordeal, admitting he "just got too hot" in the sweltering conditions.
Indeed, the weather became a major talking point throughout the championships. Temperatures soared above 30°C with stifling humidity, conditions that surprised even the best-prepared athletes and coaches. Dunn acknowledged the challenge, stating, "We knew it was going to be hot and humid but one day you could see the humidity in the sky, it was so thick. We did as much preparation as we can in terms of heat preparation but it is incredibly difficult to manage it. We had an ice strategy, a cooling strategy." She added, "Because we're coming to Beijing in 2027, we've had a dress rehearsal. We know Beijing is going to be exactly like this so the athletes that have experienced it are going be ready for it and that's going to be an advantage."
Logistical issues also drew criticism, particularly the location of the warm-up facilities. Yoyogi Park, where the main warm-up area was situated, is a 2.5-kilometer drive from the stadium—a journey that took about 15 minutes by bus. Athletes were required to leave for the stadium roughly an hour before their events, disrupting pre-race routines. World Athletics president Lord Coe conceded that the arrangement was "not perfect" after complaints from several competitors, including Keely Hodgkinson, who described the situation as "draining." Dunn commented, "We were aware the distance and we did as much preparation as we could as it was an unusual situation. It was the same for everybody else so it wasn't just us and I can't use that as an excuse. Everyone's body is different. Some people could manage that unaffected, other people it was impacting them. We do know some people were impacted."
Behind the scenes, funding concerns have begun to simmer. UK Athletics received £20.45 million for the current cycle, a reduction from the £22.7 million allocated before Paris 2024. Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK Athletics, voiced his disappointment, arguing that recent medal hauls justified greater investment. Nevertheless, Dunn remains optimistic: "I don't think it impacted enormously [here]. We're doing everything we need to do, maybe not everything we want to do. We're so grateful to get that lottery support. Yes the best in the world are catching up but we're still very privileged so the award is going to be enough for us to cope with. Over the cycle we'll hopefully get further investment. Currently it's not impacted too much."
Former heptathlon great Jessica Ennis-Hill, reflecting on the championships for BBC TV, didn’t mince words: "It has to be [a springboard to do better]. We talk about the year after an Olympics being a funny year, whether that's through injuries or changes. There's a lot going on but we can't deny the fact we're disappointed. We expected a few more opportunities and we've come away with five medals which we've got to celebrate because they were fantastic performances. But we can't get away from the fact we've not taken a gold from these championships and that's tough." On the relay teams’ struggles, she added, "That's not a nice statistic. We understand championships are tough. You come in with injuries and lots of things happen along the way and the pressure, but we have always won medals in the relay. I don't know if it's down to structuring of the team, the members, the staff, the funding - there's so many different parts and I'm sure GB will go away and look at this."
Jenny Meadows, coach of 800m medallists Hunter Bell and Hodgkinson, offered perspective on the cyclical nature of post-Olympic years: "We've talked about individuals and what happens the year after the Olympic Games. Sometimes you can get lulled into that false sense of security thinking 'we're there and consistent and we can keep doing it'."
While the USA dominated the medal table with 16 golds—nine more than any other nation—Britain’s athletes are left to regroup and refocus. With the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships set for next year and the World Championships returning in Beijing in 2027, the road to redemption is already underway. For now, the British team’s Tokyo experience serves as a sobering reminder of the fine margins at the highest level and the relentless demands of world-class competition.
