Meadows and Okoro make 800m final

ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Berlin Date: 15-23 August
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Marilyn Okoro finished second in her semi-final

Great Britain's Jenny Meadows and Marilyn Okoro qualified for the final of the women's 800m on day three of the World Athletics Championships.

Meadows clocked one minute 59.45 seconds to finish behind South Africa's Caster Semenya in her semi-final.

Okoro finished behind Elisa Cusma Piccione of Italy in her semi in a time of 2:01.01, but Jemma Simpson finished fifth in her semi and did not advance.

Meanwhile, Dwain Chambers has withdrawn from the 200m with a calf injury.

Meadows, who came within a second of her personal best, said: "I made a pig's ear of it at the start and got myself boxed in but I was only a few metres off the pace and still felt strong.

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"I didn't think I was going to qualify but I kept going and I at least wanted to finish tired and give myself a chance of finishing as one of the fastest losers.

"I thought I had just done it on the line but I didn't want to celebrate and had to wait for confirmation. I've worked so, so hard for this final and I thought it would never come.

"Two British women in the final is great, it's what this event has been promising for a while."

Simpson, who had beaten Meadows and Okoro at the British trials last month, said: "I'm a bit disappointed, I think I ran tactically well and got myself in a good position but was just not strong enough in the end.

"I was in shape to reach the final. I think I had the hardest heat so it was always going to be tough but I will learn from this."

Kate Dennison missed out on a medal in the pole vault after failing to clear 4.65m. Dennison cleared 4.55 with her second attempt, 3cm below her British record, but was unable to go any higher.

Eilidh Child and Perri Shakes-Drayton both comfortably qualified for the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles after finishing third in their respective heats.

But Cheltenham's James Brewer agonisingly missed out on the final of the 1500m on his major championship debut by just 0.08 seconds.

The 21-year-old battled to finish sixth in the opening semi-final, one spot outside an automatic qualifying place, only to be pipped to the final spot as a fastest loser by Morocco's Abdalaati Iguider in the second semi.

Team-mate Andy Baddeley, who was in crutches 24 hours earlier because of a burst blood vessel in his foot, battled hard for much of the race but faded in the end to finish 11th in the second semi-final.

Chambers finished sixth in the final of the 100m on Sunday, clocking a season's best of 10.00.

The heats of the 200m begin on Tuesday evening in the Olympic Stadium, with Usain Bolt bidding for a second victory following his world record 100m win.