Golds galore for Britain at IAU World 50km Champs in Delhi

Alex Milne and Naomi Robinson claim individual titles as they lead the GB & NI men’s and women’s teams to glory.

The Novuna Great Britain & Northern Ireland squad enjoyed huge success at the IAU 50km World Championships in New Delhi, India, on Saturday (March 14) with Alex Milne and Naomi Robinson capturing the individual world titles and leading both the men’s and women’s teams to gold medal victories.

In the women’s race, Robinson took control from the early stages to take the win in 3:13:39. Closely followed by team-mate Katrina Ballantyne, crossing the line in 3:17:24 to take second in a Scottish record, eclipsing Eleanor Greenwood’s 2013 mark of 3:23:17.

Becky Briggs crossed the line in sixth with 3:22:36, helping the team take the gold ahead of a strong Polish team, who filled the third, fourth and fifth places. Melissah Gibson ran 3:42:27 in 17th.

Milne led home an outstanding men’s team performance, setting a European record of 2:46:09 in the process. Despite warm and humid conditions in the Indian capital, both Charlie Davis (2:47:14) and Logan Smith (2:47:29) also dipped under the previous European best, set by France’s Guillame Ruel, securing a GB & NI clean sweep of the podium.

Sean Hogan ran 2:47:59 for fourth with a time that would have stood as a British record before today. Henry Hart broke his own Scottish record with a 2:48:32, just ahead of fellow Scot Kevin Campbell in sixth with a time of 2:48:52.

Any combination of the top six GB & NI athletes would have been sufficient to secure team gold, ahead of hosts India in second and the United States in third.

Thanks to UKA for info