 Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory. Video - Ice-cool Idowu qualifies in style Gold medal favourite Phillips Idowu needed just one attempt to book his place in Thursday's triple jump final. Idowu, 29, looked confident as he leapt 17.44m while fellow Briton Larry Achike also went through with a jump of 17.18m but Nathan Douglas failed to qualify. Hurdlers Sarah Claxton and Tasha Danvers produced their best when it counted to reach the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles finals respectively. Martyn Rooney and Andrew Steele also progressed to the 400m semi-finals. Idowu, Britain's world indoor and Commonwealth champion, looked to have plenty left in the tank for the looming triple jump final. The Londoner easily surpassed the 17.10m qualification standard and will be keen to avoid a repeat of his performance in Athens four years ago.  Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory. Video - Danvers through to final There he also qualified with ease but then failed to register a single legal jump in the final. Compatriot Achike wobbled in Beijing, fouling his first effort before landing the jump in the second round that saw him through, but Douglas's best jump of 16.72m was not enough for a place in the final. Douglas has had a year of battling with injury but was still disappointed with his performance in Beijing, where he failed to reach the Olympic final for the second time. "It's been very very hard - a struggle with injury - but it goes to show I wasn't up to scratch," the 25-year-old said. "I'm not one of those people who are just happy to be here. I've been here before and now I want to go to the next level." Portugal's Nelson Evora looks to be Idowu's biggest threat for gold after he jumped 17.34m and China's Li Yanxi delighted the home crowd as he qualified with the third best jump of 17.30m. There was more good news for Team GB as Sarah Claxton reached Tuesday's 100m hurdles final after finishing fourth in the second semi-final in 12.84 secs. "I got a really good start and I'm so happy," said the 28-year-old Londoner, who kept her composure as European champion Susanna Kallur crashed out when she hit the first hurdle.  | 606: DEBATE |
Tasha Danvers proved she is a major championship performer as she muscled her way into a second Olympic 400m hurdles final on Wednesday. The 30-year-old, who missed the Athens Games following the birth of her son, went through as the third fastest qualifier in 54.31 secs. "The thing about the situation I'm in is that I don't have any pressure," Danvers told BBC Sport. "But just being on the team this time, not having been to the Olympics for eight years, is great. I'm just really pleased." Rooney had earlier set the tone for the British athletes with a positive performance in the 400m, winning his heat in 45 seconds flat. "The win was the most important thing, to get a good lane in the semi-final," said the 21-year-old. "It felt pretty good. I'm a bit rusty as I haven't raced for a while but I have another race on Tuesday and it's a step towards the final. "To race in this stadium for the first time is amazing. It's an amazing track, an amazing stadium and I just have to try and take advantage of it and see how it goes."  Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory. Video - Rooney impresses in 400m heats Steele, whose previous best was 45.31, was pleased to dip under the 45-second mark for the first time. He said: "I'm happy with that, it felt nice and easy. "I didn't think I'd run that first but I knew I was in that kind of shape. "I have been doing good training in the last two weeks. It was interrupted up until then - hamstrings, food poisoning etc. But I was running PB's in Macau so I just needed to come here and do the job." Christopher Brown of the Bahamas was the fastest qualifier through to Tuesday's 400m semi-finals in 44.79, winning a second heat which saw four athletes go under 45 seconds. Andrew Turner and Allan Scott also reached the last 16 of the men's 110m hurdles on Tuesday. The withdrawal of the defending champion, China's Liu Xiang, and another likely medal winner, American Terrence Trammell, could open the door for Turner and Scott, who both ran 13.56 in their respective heats to qualify for the second round on Tuesday. Turner, who finished second behind Cuban world record holder Dayron Robles in the first heat of the day, was happy to make it through to the last 16.  Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory. Video - Claxton through as Kallur crashes out "I just wanted to qualify," he said. "The time was nothing great but it was about qualification before I start to pick it up. "It is a brilliant atmosphere and a fast track, but it's not a fast track if you hit a hurdle so I was just trying to keep it clean." Christian Malcolm and Marlon Devonish also progressed to Tuesday's 200m semi-finals as fastest losers but Alex Nelson withdrew from the heats because of a hamstring injury. In the women's hammer, Britain's Zoe Derham failed to qualify for the final as her three throws fell short of the 71.50m qualification mark. Her best effort of 64.74m was only good enough for 19th and was over four metres short of her personal best. Greg Rutherford failed to live up to expectations in the long jump final as his best-effort of 7.84m was only good enough for 10th place. The 21-year-old only managed three jumps after recording a no-jump and running through his second attempt. "I was expecting a medal and I've probably just lost my best ever chance of getting an Olympic medal," said Rutherford. "I could feel the pressure a lot and I thought I could deal with it. It's a wasted opportunity and a massive disappointment."
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