Everything comes right in Beijing for Proctor

The seventh day at the Bird’s Nest always looked like it could be a memorable one for the British team and it did not disappoint.

Proctor added to Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford’s gold medals with a wonderful display in the long jump, jumping over seven metres for the first and second time in her career.

The best of those efforts came in the third round and that 7.07m leap looked enough for gold, only for Tianna Bartoletta to manage a world-leading 7.14m with her last attempt.

“I don’t know what to feel, I’m speechless but I’m happy most of all,” said Proctor, having extended her own national record by nine centimetres.

“It’s my fifth champs, I finally got on the podium. It’s a silver medal but I still feel like a winner. It’s been a long ride. I was on crutches last year at this time (for four weeks after a quadricep injury at the Commonwealth Games).

“I had to learn to walk, I had to learn to run and [yesterday] I just threw it all together and finally executed.”

British team-mates Lorraine Ugen and Katarina Johnson-Thompson came fifth and 11th, respectively, in a long jump final which ended just before Asher-Smith set a third 200m personal best in as many days.

It was yet another remarkable display from the 19-year-old history student, whose time of 22.07 seconds saw her finish fifth and break Kathy Cook’s 31-year-old British record by three hundredths of a second.

Asher-Smith certainly looks in good shape a year out from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, underlined by the fact her time saw her usurp American great Allyson Felix as the quickest ever teenage 200m sprinter.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” she said. “I’ve run three PBs three days in a row and ended with a 22.07 which is also a British record, so I’m a really, really happy girl.”

Holland’s Dafne Schippers won the race in a championship record time of 21.63 becoming the third fastest woman after Florence Griffith-Joyner and Marion Jones.