French connection with fans helps thwart Buck as he settles for silver

The City of York athlete’s long wait for a major senior international podium place ended as he claimed bronze in the 400m with a time of 46.62 seconds.

Just 24 hours later the 24-year-old ran a final lap of 46 seconds as he and Richard Strachan helped Great Britain to 4x400m relay silver, 0.29 seconds behind gold medal winners France.

But after closing the gap on Frenchman Yoan Decimus with the line getting ever nearer, Buck believes a gold slipped through his fingers thanks to those in the stands.

“It’s great to have the medal in the 400m but obviously I went out there to go for the win,” said Buck, who clocked 46.62 seconds, coming home 1.08 behind gold medallist Leslie Djhone of France.

“And in the relay I really thought I had the measure of the French guy but the whole crowd really cheered for him and it lifted him up and he came through first.

“But at the start of the winter programme I switched coaches and I spent the first ten weeks essentially starting to run again and hopefully I’ll get it ready for the outdoor season.

“Either way there will certainly be improvements and it’ll definitely be ready for London 2012.”

Strachan ran a bold race in the 400m final, going all out for a win, and was still in a medal position some 10m from the finish but could not hold on and placed fifth.

Strachan, a former junior rival to Buck, is from Middleton, Leeds. Formerly with Leeds City, he has moved to London where he is coached by former Olympic 100m champion Linford Christie.

Team captain Helen Clitheroe led by example with gold in the 3,000m as Britain ended the Championships with eight medals, twice as many as in Turin two years ago.

Jenny Meadows won silver in the 800m and returned to the track an hour later to anchor the 4x400m relay team to another, while Dwain Chambers and the men’s 4x400m team also claimed silver on the final day of competition in Paris.

But perhaps the most significant result came from 17-year-old sprinter Jodie Williams, who was just 0.01 seconds away from a medal in the 60m on her senior debut.

In the women’s 800m, Meadows led from the start and it looked as though her tactics would pay off until Russia’s Yevgeniya Zinurova edged ahead just metres from the line. Meadows finished 0.31secs behind with team-mate Marilyn Okoro fading to fifth.

The highlight of the day for the home crowd came in the triple jump, where Teddy Tamgho improved his own world record by one centimetre – twice – with jumps of 17.92m.

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