Colchester Harriers latest Olympian Charlie Dobson enjoyed a successful week in Paris with Team GB.  The week started well with Charlie winning the final heat of six in round one of the 400m last Monday evening in the Stade de France.   Running in lane 5 Charlie clocked 44.96s to progress to the semi-final the next evening.

This time Charlie was drawn in lane 8 in the first of three semi-final races.  He took fourth place in 44.48s but failed to progress to the final as one of the two fastest losers.  The third semi-final saw Charlie’s GB teammate Matthew Hudson-Smith progress to Wednesday’s final where he took the silver medal in a new European record of 43.44s.

Charlie was next on the track in the 4 x 400m relay on the Friday morning.  The quartet of Sam Reardon, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Toby Harries and Dobson ran a well-judged race with Dobson bringing the baton home in second place in a season’s best 2m 58.88s to qualify for Saturday’s final.

On the final night of the athletics in the Stade de France the GB team lined up for the 4x400m relay with high hopes of winning Olympic medals.  Good legs by Haydock-Wilson, Hudson-Smith and Lewis Davey saw Dobson take the baton in third position which he held to the finish, his leg timed at 43.33s, for the GB team to take the bronze medals in a new European record of 2m 55.83s.

A week to remember for our Olympian Charlie Dobson.