Tokyo 2020 – Elliot Giles cruises into semi-finals of 800m, Jessie Knight suffers heartbreak with fall in 400m hurdles

Elliot Giles made it to the semi-finals of the 800 meters with a honed effort.

The Briton’s heat was run at a breakneck pace, which was good for those who had to rely on a place with the quickest losers. That wasn’t a consideration for Giles, who positioned himself well and moved up to third on the home stretch before stepping on the gas.

Giles’ heat was impressively won by Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich in a time of 1: 43.75 and the 800m looks like a glowing affair.

Giles’ team-mate Oliver Dustin found the pace too fast in Heat 2, Marco Arop made it difficult in qualifying in a time of 1: 45.26.

Daniel Rowden joined Giles in the Sems when he finished third in his run behind United States’ big hope for gold – Clayton Murphy.

Meghan Beesley failed in the heats over the 400 meter hurdle because she was only able to secure seventh place behind Anna Ryzhykova with 55.91.

The disappointment for GB’s Jessie Knight in the same event was great when she slipped on the way to the first hurdle, fell into the obstacle and did not finish.

Britain’s Jessie Knight

Photo credit: Getty Images

It was a heat won by world number one Sydney McLaughlin in a time of 54.65.

Team GB will be represented in the semifinals of the 400m hurdles as Jessica Turner finished fourth behind Femke Bol in Heat 4. The main story of this heat was the disqualification of Ronda Whyte due to a false start.

Team GB’s Cindy Sember and Tiffany Porter both reached the semi-finals of the 100 meter hurdles.

Porter (12.85) took fourth place behind Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.41), while Sember (13.00) took the same place in a heat won by Andrea Carolina Vargas (12.71).

GB Harry Coppell got off to a good start in the pole vault qualification with three faultless jumps, but failed to win 5.75m. However, his efforts in qualifying were enough to get him to the final.

Renauld Lavillenie fought early and threatened to miss a height, but the 2012 gold medalist from London corrected a technical error and secured his place in the final – as did world record holder Armand Duplantis.

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