"I'm Just Tyri": Donovan battles world's best and smashes PBs on champs debut

Credit Sam Mellish | British Athletics

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Tyri Donovan took on the great and the good of international hurdling and delivered on his World Athletics Championships debut in Tokyo, writes Paul Eddison.

A personal best in the heats of the 400m hurdles was followed by another in his semi-final for the 26-year-old from Epsom as he ran the 11th quickest time overall.

That was not quite enough to reach the final of a stacked event, but his time of 48.21 seconds would have seen him qualify for last year’s Olympic final and was faster than Dai Greene’s winning time at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu.

Drawn alongside world record holder and former Olympic champion Karsten Warholm in his semi-final, Donovan admitted he was a little overawed but he was able to put that behind him and produce a lifetime best when it counted.

He said: “It's a massive achievement. I know that maybe some people are thinking the final could have been there. But I've turned up on debut, done what I can try and do for the team. And I think I've done what I have to do.

“I'm trying to find a state of belonging mentally at this level. That's some really big lads in there. Even just getting a lot of appreciation for someone like Karsten Warholm, Alison Dos Santos (the 2022 world champion), Rai Benjamin (the reigning Olympic champion). These guys are absolute legends, I'm just Tyri. So it's great to be sort of in that circle now. I think it's reassured me, these guys are human as well. And I think it's really important, as much as we're going out here to perform and battle against each other, is recognising the human behind it.”

Donovan’s performances are all the more impressive considering that he still works full-time, fitting in his athletics around those commitments.

That places some limits on which races he can participate in, but he has still managed to get within half a second of Kriss Akabusi’s long-standing British record. This performance could open up questions over whether that set-up is the optimum long-term solution for Donovan, who was quick to point out that he is one of many athletes who has to work alongside their sport.

He said: “I've got a full-time job, I've got no sponsors, I'm not funded.

“I'm doing this all on the back of my own accord, like 95% of the other people here as well. It's not just me out here on this world stage that is working either part-time or full-time.

“I'm working full-time in an office, making sure I get to some races, some races I can't do.

“That's what I'm trying to do, making the best of the time I have, and it's pulled me through to today, so I'm proud of the balance I've got.

“I have a good company behind me who support me really well but I certainly will entertain the opportunity if there are contract talks about doing stuff full-time

“Because I'm here and in sport there is a finite amount of time to reach your potential so I want to maximise the most of myself and if I can do it off the back of performing for my nation and my club, I’m all for it.”

Follow all the action from the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on BBC.