Whenever Daryll Neita is at a loose end, she often watches videos of herself running on loop. It is a process that can swallow up hours, as she plays, pauses and rewinds footage on her phone, scanning for clues like a forensics scientist, hoping it will help her put to together the perfect race. Sadly, after a dramatic and heartbreaking night in Rome, she is still waiting.
It was painful enough that Neita, whose bubbly personality makes her one of the more popular members of the British team, had been a big favourite for 200m. And that she lost out on gold by 0.01sec. But the final heartbreak came when she crossed the line and thought she had won – only to learn the Swiss athlete Mujinga Kambundji had pipped her in a photo-finish in 22.49sec.
