• London Olympics 2012

Felix finally tastes gold as Proctor disappoints

Allyson Felix wins the women's 200m final © PA Photos

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Great Britain's long jump medal hopeful Shara Proctor endured a disappointing night as she failed to qualify for the final three jumps of the competition.

Proctor had looked in fine form in qualification on Tuesday as she booked her place in the final with her opening jump of 6.80m, but she was unable to replicate that in the final as a leap of 6.55m left her eighth in the field after three jumps, with just one competitor to go.

Russia's Lyudmila Kolchanova then proceeded to land a jump of 6.76m, knocking Proctor down to ninth after three jumps - with just the top eight going on to complete the competition.

"I guess today wasn't my day," Proctor said afterwards. "I just couldn't get it right on the runway. It's a learning experience, I guess. I tried my best.

"It's anybody's game and tonight it just wasn't my game. You can never get too comfortable out there. I lost focus - after my first few jumps I got frustrated and lost focus. I guess that was my problem."

In the end the competition was won by USA representative Brittney Reese with a best jump of 7.12m, with Russian Elena Sokolova five centimetres behind in second and another American, Janay DeLoach, rounding out the rostrum.

In the showpiece event of the night, Allyson Felix claimed her first individual Olympic gold medal with an impressive victory in the women's 200m.

Felix ran a great bend and held her form to take the line well clear of her nearest rival, stopping the clock in a time of 21.88s.

Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce, who has already defended the 100m title she won in Beijing already in London, came second - with Carmelita Jeter claiming bronze as defending champion Veronica Campbell-Brown was forced to miss out.

"I mean, finally! I've waited so long for this moment and now I'm delighted to share it with everyone here," Felix said. "It was all about getting it done. It might sink in some time this evening, I don't know!"

Earlier in the evening there was some encouraging performances from British athletes. In the semi-finals of the women's 1500m, Lisa Dobriskey looked in great form as she booked her place in the final with some ease.

"I just wanted to make an Olympic final so it's great," Dobriskey, who finished fourth in the event in Beijing in 2008, said. "It was a bit of a scrap at the end but I was just glad to be one of those top five places."

There was disappointment for Hannah England, however, as the world championship silver medallist paid the price for getting spiked in an early season race as she was unable to kick on down the home straight and join Dobriskey in the final.

"I'm disappointed, it'll be a case of what might have been with this season," England said, noting that the weeks of training she missed through injury cost her dearly. "I was ready to strike but it didn't quite happen."

In the second semi-final, Laura Weightman dramatically joined Dobriskey in the final as a fastest loser - booking her place only after a photo finish.

There was another other gold medal won on Wednesday. In the women's 400m hurdles, Russia's Natalya Antyukh held off the challenge of the United States' Lashinda Demus over the final hurdle to take victory in a time of 52.70s.

Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic was a distant third.

Great Britain's disappointment was not confined to the Olympic Stadium - at the Riverbank, the women's hockey team lost 2-1 in the semi-finals to Argentina. They will now face New Zealand in the bronze medal match, as Argentina look to beat Netherlands to gold.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.