TRACK star Rebecca Grieve is celebrating after helping Great Britain and Northern Ireland to reach the podium at a prestigious global event.
The 19-year-old travelled to Lima, Peru, to compete at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships and emerged with a bronze medal in the women's 4x400 metre relay.
Rebecca, who has represented Pitreavie AAC, attended the competition that brought together talented, rising stars from all corners of the globe, including some athletes that ran for their countries at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
She was part of a six-strong squad of athletes for the 4x400m, which also included Jessica Astill (Stevenage & North Herts), Kara Dacosta (Trafford), Charlotte Henrich (Invicta East Kent), Emma Holmes (West Cheshire) and Nandy Kihuyu (Sheffield & Dearne).
Rebecca, who is coached by former Pitreavie hurdler, Francis Smith, was on the track for the heats, alongside Astill, Holmes and Kihuyu, and helped the team to third behind Australia and Norway.
Running the anchor leg, she took the baton on from Kihuyu, who ran the third leg in 54.50 seconds, after Astill and Holmes ran split times of 56.06 and 53.27 respectively, to keep GB in contention.
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With the second-fastest leg of the race, in 52.86, Rebecca's run powered the quartet into the final, with a total time of 3:36.69.
With medals up for grabs, Rebecca was once more tasked with running the anchor leg in the final, with Henrich, Holmes and Dacosta completing the line-up.
A strong first leg from Henrich put the GB quartet into a strong position, which Holmes continued to keep them in contention for the medals, before a blistering start by Dacosta saw her close the gap to the leading teams.
Rebecca then took on the baton and, after powering down the home straight, led the team to a bronze medal.
Another relay medal in Lima! ๐
โ British Athletics (@BritAthletics) September 1, 2024
This time it's bronze in the women's 4x400m ๐ฅ
Amazing stuff from Charlotte Henrich, Emma Holmes, Kara Dacosta, Rebecca Grieve, Jess Astill, and Nandy Kihuyu ๐#WorldAthleticsU20 | #WhereItStarts pic.twitter.com/B3vemzWWp2
Their time of 3:32.80, a season's best, saw them finish behind race winners the USA, and runners-up Australia, who also posted season's best times of 3:30.74 and 3:31.47 respectively.
Speaking after the race, Rebecca said: "It was great, I knew that we could go out there and do it. I knew they would set me up amazingly and I just had to hold on and get the baton home."
Posting later on social media, she revealed that she had recovered from a broken foot to take her place in the team, adding: "Happy to anchor such an amazing team with a 52.8 split in the heat and a 53.1 in the final. Thank you British Athletics for the opportunity.
"This time last year I had to relearn how to walk properly from breaking my foot and now Iโm a world bronze medallist.
"Canโt wait for next season."
Pitreavie AAC said: "Well done to Rebecca Grieve from Pitreavie AAC helping the team win bronze in the Womenโs 4x400m relay at the Under-20 World Championship."
Two years ago, Rebecca, who also represents Woodford Green Essex Ladies and the University of New Mexico, became a European champion with Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
ICYMI: @RebeccaGrieve7 is a @worldathletics U20 BRONZE MEDALIST ๐ฅ#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/HB5GWmkj67
โ New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) September 3, 2024
She took part in the European Under-18 Athletics Championships and was selected to take part in the women's medley relay, which she and her team-mates won in what was a championship record time.
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