‘Toff’ Clarke stunned by final run

Clarke, nicknamed ‘toff of the track’ due to his privileged background, set a personal best of 13.31 seconds to reach the final as the eighth-fastest qualifier.

And the 22-year-old returned to the track two hours later to finish just outside the medals as Aries Merritt led an American one-two ahead of team-mate Jason Richardson.

Merritt’s time of 12.92secs was just 0.01s outside the Olympic record set by Liu Xiang in Athens in 2004, with Richardson clocking 13.04 and Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment claiming a surprise bronze in a national record of 13.12.

Clarke was fourth in 13.39s as defending champion and world record holder Dayron Robles pulled up midway through the race with an apparent hamstring injury.

“I can’t believe I came fourth in the Olympic Games. I didn’t expect to reach the final,” said Clarke, who won the European junior title in 2009 and Commonwealth bronze in Delhi in 2010.

“I clashed arms with the South African (Lehann Fourie) who’s a big guy, he looks like an American football player; maybe I would have run a PB but I wouldn’t have got a medal – 13.12 for bronze is ridiculous.”

The first gold medal of the evening went to Russia’s Natalya Antyukh in the 400m hurdles, the 31-year-old just holding off America’s Lashinda Demus at the finish.

Antyukh recorded a personal best of 52.70s to finish just 0.06 outside the Olympic record held by 2008 champion Melaine Walker, with Demus setting a season’s best of 52.77.

After having to settle for silver in the last two Games, American Allyson Felix finally got her hands on a gold medal with a brilliant run in the 200m final.