• London 2012 - Athletics

Grabarz grabs bronze as GB exceed Beijing tally

Robbie Grabarz cleared 2.25m and 2.29 at the first attempt © PA Photos

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Britain's Robbie Grabarz lived up to his promise by snatching bronze in the high jump with a clearance of 2.29 metres.

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The European champion, who has jumped 2.36m this year, cleared 2.25m and 2.29m at the first attempt, but found 2.33m out of his reach.

Nonetheless, his serene progress through his opening two efforts was enough to land him a place on the podium. He shared the bronze with Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Derek Drouin of Canada.

His medal allowed Team GB to eclipse the number that they took home from Beijing four years ago. The gold was taken by Ivan Ukhov of Russia, who jumped 2.38m, with Erik Kynard of USA (2.33m) getting silver.

Although Team GB remain without a high jump gold since 1906, Grabarz did manage to equal Steve Smith's effort in 1996 at Atlanta.

"I'm over the moon," Grabarz told the BBC. "Last year [I was] wasting too much time, not really applying myself. End of last year, my coach gave me a good telling off and said, 'You're wasting your time, you're better than this - go away, if you don't want it, don't come back.' And here I am now."

Elsewhere, Andrew Osagie stormed into the final of the 800m by finishing second in his semi in a personal best time of 1:44.74, behind world champion David Rudisha of Kenya.

"You plan almost a year for one race, getting it right. And then when you do... luckily my legs were there. It was the crowd, I'm so so happy. I can't believe I've qualified automatically. To come second behind Rudisha ... words can't describe," Osagie said.

Lawrence Okoye exited the discus final early - despite being ranked fifth in the world list this year - after only managing a best throw of 61.03m. Germany's Robert Harting took gold with an effort of 68.27m.

Controversial Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi stormed to gold in the 1500m with a time of 3:34.08. He had been thrown out of the Olympics for not trying hard enough in his 800m heat, only to be reinstated.

Meanwhile in hockey, Great Britain reached the semi-final stage following a 1-1 draw with Spain - although the hosts were under huge pressure at the end, and had to cling on.

Men's High Jump

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