Anning rebounds with 400m triumph in Nanjing

Two weeks after leaving the track in tears following her disqualification for a lane violation at the European Indoor Championships, Amber Anning shed tears of joy in Nanjing as she took world indoor gold over 400m.

The outdoor British record-holder had been one of the medal favourites at the European Indoors, and she won her heat there in ease before learning of her disqualification. After overcoming the disappointment, she entered the World Indoors seeking redemption of sorts.

For a brief moment in the final, however, it looked as though the race would end in another disappointment for the Briton. Anning and USA's Alexis Holmes were neck-and-neck at the end of the first lap, but a nudge from Holmes forced Anning to go wide and lose precious ground.

She didn't panic, though, and waited until the final straight to respond, getting to the line just a fraction of a second before Holmes, 50.60 to 50.63. Anning becomes the first British woman to win an individual world indoor sprint title.

Holmes, meanwhile, went one better than her placing in Glasgow last year. European indoor champion Henriette Jaeger took bronze in 50.92.

"'World champion' sounds nice," said Anning. "It's been a journey. It wasn't the cleanest of races, but in the end I was competitive, and I'm just grateful I was able to get the win. In the last 20-30 metres, I think I lost control of myself and my technique, but I knew that the race wasn't over until it's over, and I just had to use my strength to really just dig deep. It just feels like redemption after what happened at the Europeans. To finish my indoor season with this high, it's just amazing."

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics