RICHARD Kilty insisted he and his 4x100m team-mates gave it their all as Great Britain came up short of a medal at Rio 2016.

Great Britain were handed the tricky task of running last night’s men’s 4x100m final from lane one, with Kilty starting the quartet off.

And try as they might the team of Kilty, James Ellington, Harry Aikines-Aryeety and Adam Gemili couldn’t push for a medal.

While Usain Bolt and Jamaica claimed gold in 37.27 seconds, Great Britain crossed the line sixth in 37.98, although they were bumped up to fifth after bronze-medal winners USA were disqualified.

Lane one is never an ideal draw for any team, but immediately before the men’s 4x100m final the American women won their equivalent in 41.01 from the same lane, just 0.19 seconds off the world record.

And Kilty admitted Great Britain were simply beaten by better teams on the day.

“We all ran our hearts out there,” he said. “We expected to come out and win our heat and given the circumstances for a number of reasons that didn’t happen.

“We don’t want to bring up the lanes but we were given lane one and we were given it in the heat.

“We didn’t mention it and we watched the American women’s team go out and win with the one of the fastest times in the world, so we went out there looking to get a medal.

“We didn’t use it as an excuse and we thought that we would push it, have faith in each other and wire it until our legs fell off.

“That was our best shot and that is all we can say. Every single one of us ran our hearts out there and that is all we can give.”

Great Britain arrived in Rio with high hopes having won European gold last month, albeit the team in that final being made up of Gemili, Ellington, James Dasaolu and Chijindu Ujah.

And while Great Britain had failed to repeat the feat on the biggest stage of them all, Kilty believes the future of male British sprinting is in rude health.

“We love each other and the team is amazing,” Kilty added. “Any one of us could be replaced by someone just as good.

“There are eight or nine of us out there and if one of us is out then someone else can come in just as good as the other.

“We gave it our best shot and it wasn’t enough on the big stage and that is all we can say.”

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