JOE FERGUSON was delighted to take bronze for Great Britain in the World Relay Championships this week and hopes it is the first of many international medals in his career.
The 25-year-old runner from Darton was competing in Guangzhou, China where some of the fastest men and women on the planet gathered including many Olympic champions.
Joe ran the anchor leg in the mixed 4x100m – a new event at international level. He was praised for his performance in the heat as GB went through in second, 0.01 of a second behind Jamaica.
That meant they qualified for the World Championships this year.
In the final, he saw the team home in third place behind Canada and Jamaica. His team-mates were Asha Phillip, Kissiwaa Mensah and Jeriel Quainoo.
Joe said: “The event has been an amazing experience, such a great start to the season. After struggling with injury the last couple years, it honestly feels great to be back on the world stage and making history – setting what is now a British and European record of 40.88 in the final. To claim a bronze medal is brilliant.
“It’s my first global medal and one of hopefully many more to come.
“It’s been brilliant to come together as a team and showcase Great Britain in a good way in the first mixed relay ever.
“I felt that it was important to lay down a good marker for the future as this is what people will remember, and we’ve done just that.
“I honestly couldn’t have wished for a better start to the season. Winning a global medal is a pretty good way to kick off 2025 so I’m excited to use this as momentum to start my individual campaign soon.”
Ferguson is set to compete in various events in the UK and Europe starting next week in Cyprus. He has already won the 200m British Indoor Championships this year and is due to compete in the outdoor version.
His main goal this season is to reach the World Championships in Tokyo in September, having made the semi-final of the same event in 2022.
Last year, he finished his degree in psychology and quit his job at a jewellers to be a full-time athlete – training under Olympian Richard Kilty in Sheffield and Middlesbrough.
