ATHLETICS star Nicole Yeargin remains in contention for a shot at Olympic glory after helping Team GB reach the women's 4x400 metre relay final.

The 23-year-old, who joined Pitreavie AAC ahead of the Tokyo Games, ran the anchor leg this morning as the British quartet finished third in their heat to give themselves a medal chance on Saturday.

The University of Southern California student, who was cleared to compete for Scotland and GB as her mum, Lynn, is from Dunfermline, lined-up alongside Emily Diamond, Zoey Clark and Laviai Nielsen for the race, which featured both the United States and Jamaica.

Diamond led the Team GB push for the final, clocking 51.54 seconds in her leg, followed by Clark (50.94) and Nielsen (50.92), with Yeargin tasked with bringing them home.

With the top three in both heats - and the next two fastest quartets - qualifying for the final, the Pitreavie star faced a fight for third place but a superb run of 50.59 saw her hold off the challenge of the Netherlands, who finished fourth in 3:24.01, behind Team GB, who timed at 3:23.99.

That season's best bested a national record for the Dutch, whilst the USA (3:20.96) and Jamaica (3:21.95) also clocked season's bests to take the top two spots.

The final takes place on Saturday and, speaking to the BBC afterwards, Yeargin said: "I wanted to bring it home and make sure we got that big Q."

That success came after Yeargin suffered disappointment in the 400m on Tuesday, when she was disqualified in the heats.

She took to the start line in the fourth of six heats and was one of three Team GB athletes seeking progression to the semi-finals.

Last week, ahead of the start of the start of the track and field events, Yeargin spoke to Press Sport from Tokyo and outlined her positivity that she could reach the semi-finals, and it appeared as though she had done just that.

In each heat, the top three placed runners would automatically qualify, with the next six fastest competitors joining them, and the US-born star took third place.

Her time of 52.04 seconds saw her place behind Jamaica’s Candice McLeod, who clocked 51.09, and Amandine Brossier of France, who finished in 51.65, but minutes later it was announced she had been disqualified for a lane infringement.

Television images suggested that she had caught the lane line with her foot shortly after coming out of the blocks, ending her aspirations in her individual event.

That came after the mixed relay, held for the first time at the Olympics, in which Yeargin helped GB to sixth place in the final.

Cameron Chalmers, Zoey Clark, Emily Diamond and Lee Thompson ran a national record of 3:11.95 in the heats, before Yeargin and Nicklas Baker joined anchor runner Chalmers and Diamond in the line-up for the final.

Yeargin ran a second leg time of 50.69 to help GB to a time of 3:12.07 as Poland took gold, ahead of the Dominican Republic, who won silver, and the United States, who claimed bronze.

Meanwhile, in the early hours of yesterday (Wednesday) morning, sprint canoe star Katie Reid made her Olympic debut.

The 26-year-old, a former pupil at Cairneyhill Primary and Queen Anne High, competed in the women’s C1 200m, a new event for the Olympic programme.

Dunfermline Press:

Katie, who first took up canoeing in 2014, only received notification that she had made the team early in July, and vowed to enjoy the experience while hoping to inspire others to take up the sport.

She put down a strong time of 47.876 to finish fourth in her heat, advancing to the quarter-finals, where only the top two progressed.

Despite another fourth place, and a slightly quicker time of 47.821, Katie was eliminated, finishing 1.603 behind Hungary’s race winner, Virag Balla.

Afterwards, she said: “I executed that the way I wanted to.

“The outcome is obviously not fast enough yet, but it’s another stepping stone towards Paris (Olympics, 2024).

“I’ve only been doing the sport for seven years now, and to be here is an achievement. I’m happy to be here and take it all in.”

The medal dreams for Dunfermline-born footballer, Caroline Weir, also came to an end in heartbreaking fashion last Friday.

The 26-year-old, who has won 79 caps for Scotland, started for Team GB’s women in their quarter-final with Australia and they led 2-1 in the 89th minute thanks to Ellen White’s double.

Sam Kerr’s equaliser took the match to extra-time and, in the 102nd minute, GB were awarded a penalty.

Weir stepped up but saw her kick saved by Teagan Micah, with Mary Fowler and Kerr then netting for Australia, who went on to win 4-3.