Lawrence Okoye wins discus on return seven years after
Nigeria born British athlete Lawrence Okoye won the discus event on his first international appearance for nine years as Great Britain finished third at the European Team Championships in Poland.
GB, who led after day one, had been well placed for overall victory but a failed handover in the final event, the men’s 4x400m relay, cost them.
They did not finish and remained on 174 points overall.
Italy’s win in the relay saw them take second on 179 behind Poland on 181.5.
But it still gave GB their first top-three finish at the event since 2013.
Okoye, a finalist at the London Olympics, is making his athletics comeback after seven years out, which included a switch to American football.
He threw 64.22m with his fourth attempt to win the event but the wet conditions meant the British record-holder was unable to reach the Olympic qualifying standard of 66m.
“It was tough all day,” he said. “The circle was very wet so I tried to come up with a good result. I changed my shoes during the competition and maybe it helped.
“I’m happy to be back. These events keep developing my performance.”
He was one of three GB winners on day two of the event with Beth Dobbin (200m) and Jake Wightman (800m) also victorious.
Against a field without many big names such as British world champion Dina Asher-Smith, Dobbin, who was part of Saturday’s victorious 4x100m relay team, won with a season’s best 22.78 seconds, which is inside the Olympic qualifying standard.
“I’m so happy, I went for the win, I finished strong and I’m so pleased with the time,” she said.
“The conditions weren’t the best ones but this was my third-fastest 200m ever. I set the bar high. I wanted to know how the individual win feels even if it’s a team event.”
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Team captain Wightman put in a strong second lap to take the lead with 200m to go and he powered clear to win in 1mins 45.71secs.
Born in Croydon in South London to Nigerian parents, Okoye could be said to have a finger in every pie having played American football as well as Rugby