European Cup silver medallist Chris Tomlinson has broken the British long-jump record with a leap of 8.27 metres.

The distance is a four-centimetre improvement on the previous best set in 1968 by Welshman Lynn "the leap" Davies.

Tomlinson produced his greatest-ever jump while competing in Tallahassee, Florida where he has been training for the past month with triple jumper Jonathan Edwards.

The 20-year-old has recently recovered from two broken wrists, sustained in a freak weight-training accident.

It resulted in his withdrawal from the European Indoor Championships.

Lewis-Francis double

Tomlinson's previous best of 8.19m was set on his senior debut for Great Britain in the European Cup final, in which he finished runner-up.

Tomlinson said of that jump:: "People said it was windy so disregarded it. But it has made me even more determined.

"I know I can jump over eight metres regularly and I want to compete for England in the Commonwealth Games," insisted the Teessider.

At the same meeting, world junior champion Mark Lewis-Francis won his speciality 100m in 10.14 seconds.

He then produced a personal best 20.94 seconds to take the 200m.