On a great day for British athletes in the World Championships at Beijing when most British athletes survived their opening or qualifying rounds Charlie Grice (Phoenix) survived his heat of the 1500m despite nearly taking a tumble.
In a slow run race when there was frequently bunching Grice managed to fight his way through to fourth place in 3:43.21s.
“I’m really happy to make it through as an automatic qualifier, because I nearly went down again on the back straight. There were a lot of guys around me who slowed, so just very happy to pull through,” said Grice. “I really squeezed through people; I got a big push and nearly went down. I’ve been working on my speed, and I knew it’s been going well in training, so I just knew I had to put myself in the right position.”
Fellow British runner and arch rival Chris O’Hare was caught in a faster heat but still got through to Friday’s semi-final finishing fifth in 3:38.43s