Tim Duckworth finishes fifth in decathlon as nine Brits qualify for finals

It was Duckworth’s first senior outing for the British team and with two events to go he was actually leading before eventual gold medallist Arthur Abele overtook him in the javelin.

He set a new PB in the 1,500m but finished an agonising 130 points off a medal position.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “I am tired, very tired. It was a really, really cool experience, it was next level. It was a better experience than I thought it was going to be.

“It was a hell of an experience leading it, but I don’t feel like it was a great decathlon for me. It was a good score but in terms of where I wanted to be, some events were down – the 100m, long jump, hurdles. There was a lot down but a lot of experienced gained from it all and it is all towards the next three years.

“There was a lot of support for me and I am grateful for that because it was a long, gruelling two days with lots of ups and downs. My goal was to come top five and you can’t be too mad with the score if you are top five.”

Morgan Lake led the way for British athletes qualifying for finals, achieving 1.90m in the high jump.

Speaking afterwards Lake said: “I had to get first time attempts, I know that is really important. It is really important in qualifiers and I have lost out on that before so that was the biggest aim.

“I was taking each height as it came and trying to replicate my jumps. It poured with rain just as we were warming up, my stuff was soaked. No umbrella, no waterproofs. I am feeling good, I just need to make sure I recover get some sleep in and get ready for Friday.”

Elsewhere Eilidh Doyle won her 400m hurdles semi-final with a time of 55.16 and she was joined by Meghan Beesley who qualified as one of the two fastest losers, clocking a time of 55.21.

Matthew Hudson-Smith made it to the 400m final with a time of 44.76; while Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.35) and Adam Gemili, as a fastest loser, (20.46) made it to the 200m final.

Adelle Tracey (1:59:86), Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (2:00:39) and Lynsey Sharp (2:02:73) made it three British women in the 800m final.