Sayers and Tomlinson miss finals

25 August - 2 September

British javelin thrower Goldie Sayers and long jumper Chris Tomlinson both failed to qualify for their finals at the World Championships in Osaka.

Sayers, ranked fourth in the world, struggled to reach 57.23m - almost eight metres down on her season's best.

British record holder Tomlinson only managed 7.89 metres to finish 16th, 10cm short of the qualifying distance.

But Andy Turner set a personal best time of 13.27 seconds in making the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles.

Women's 1500m duo Abby Westley and Lisa Dobrisky both advanced to the semi-finals, while Joice Maduaka made progress in the 200m where Emily Freeman was disqualified for a false start.

Sayers had been tipped for a place on the podium after breaking the British record in May with a throw of 65.05m.

But she again failed to produce on the world stage after finishing fifth at the Commonwealth Games and 12th - and last - in the final of the European Championships in Gothenburg last year.

"My legs were so dead and I couldn't attack the line, I feel really tired and I did not have it in my legs at all," she said afterwards.

"I did not sleep a wink last night and whether that had something to do with it I had no idea. I feel I belong in the final with the way I have been throwing all year, but it would have taken a miracle to be in it."

Tomlinson was also disappointed with his performance after he broke his five-year-old British long jump record of 8.27m by two centimetres in Germany in July.

"I have had a good season and maybe I didn't realise how difficult it was to jump over eight metres and maybe I should have been more up for it and I fell into a bit of a rut," he said.

"I am joint fifth in the world rankings and I have been beating these guys week in, week out throughout the season, but sometimes this happens in sport.

"You don't get it right in qualifying and you are out of there. It is the first time I have bombed out of qualifying and I need to establish why."

Greg Rutherford also failed to advance after reaching just 7.77m to finish in 21st position.

Source: BBC Sport