Distance runner Logan Smith was delighted to exceed his “wildest dreams” after making his Great Britain debut with gold and bronze medals.
The 28-year-old from Cromer, Norfolk, finished third at the 50km World Championships in New Delhi and was part of a clean Team GB podium finish.
Smith completed the course in 2 hours, 47 minutes and 29 seconds despite having started at 4:00 am to reduce the level of heat to which the athletes would be subjected.
She chased Alex Milne (2:46.09) and Charlie Davis (2:47.15) home, and it was a similar story in the women’s race with Britain’s Naomi Robinson and Katrina Ballantyne in first and second.
“I came here hoping to compete well and do myself justice, but to come away with an individual bronze medal and a team gold medal, I’m on top of the world,” Smith told BBC Radio Norfolk.
“We packed really well. All the Brits, one to six, is absolutely unheard of. As a team we absolutely smashed it, and if it wasn’t for the two guys in front of me I’d be sitting here with the European and British records, but I’m full of time.”
The championship was postponed from December due to the poor air quality at that time in New Delhi, but it remained a factor for the athletes.
“Temperatures started out around 19 degrees, so it wasn’t that bad, but they got to 24, 25, 80 percent humidity, and air pollution was also a problem,” Smith said.
“It’s not at that level where it’s unsafe to go ahead, but it’s currently higher than anywhere else in the world, so there’s a lot of factors to take into account.”
“I was doing a lot of saunas [before travelling to India] and prepare for the heat, and it was clearly worth the hard work that was done. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”