Greg Rutherford has been forced to settle for Olympic bronze in a thrilling long jump final in Rio de Janeiro.
The defending champion from London 2012 entered the contest following a disappointing qualifying session on Friday, which saw him advance at the last attempt after two fouled jumps.
© BBC
The 29-year-old began the final strongly with a jump of 8.18m in the first round, but in a sign of things to come, he was promptly bettered by the USA's Jeff Henderson, who managed 8.20m.
A jump of 8.11m followed in the second round, before he regained the lead with 8.22m in the third.
Again his advantage was fleeting, however, as Henderson's teammate Jarrion Lawson edged in front by 3cm.
Rutherford fouled in the fourth round and could only manage 8.09m in the fifth, as South Africa's Luvo Manyonga came from nowhere to raise the stakes with successive jumps of 8.28m and 8.37m.
That set the scene for a four-horse race in the final round and Rutherford struck first with a jump of 8.29m to move into the silver-medal position.
A galvanised Henderson took to the runway and promptly edged out Manyonga by 1cm, pushing down Rutherford to bronze in the process.
Lawson was last up and there was to be one final piece of drama as he initially looked to have cleared Henderson's mark, before the judges ruled that his left hand had dragged in the sand at 7.78m.
Neil Wilkes
