• London 2012 - Athletics

GB men suffer another relay DQ humiliation

Team GB were disqualified after a poor handover to Adam Gemili © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• Features: Final East German athletics record tumbles
  

Team GB's hopes of a medal in the men's 4x100m relay were shattered after they were disqualified from the heats after a disastrous final handover.

Schedule
Results
Medal Table

Adam Gemili crossed the line in second in a season's best time of 37.93 seconds, but the British team were subsequently disqualified because Danny Talbot failed to hand over the baton to Gemili before the end of the changeover zone.

Britain were disqualified in Beijing four years ago, and have now failed on baton changes five times in the last six major championships.

"Maybe I went early or too hard," Gemili said. "It's disappointing as we could have been in contention in the final."

Talbot added: "I don't know what happened. I just couldn't catch Adam. I'm really gutted and it's devastating."

Favourites Jamaica won the first heat with ease despite resting double Olympic champion Usain Bolt, while USA were the fastest qualifiers for the final after winning the second heat.

There was further disappointment for Team GB as they narrowly missed out on a medal in the men's 4x400m relay. Dai Greene handed anchor Martyn Rooney the baton in fifth position, but Rooney was bearing down on Trinidad & Tobago and narrowly missed out on bronze as Bahamas stunned USA to take gold.

Meanwhile USA won gold in the women's 4x100m relay in a new world record time of 40.82. Tianna Madison got the Americans off to a flying start, and Carmelita Jeter ran a superb anchor leg as they finished comfortably clear of Jamaica, erasing a world record stretching back to 1985.

Tirunesh Dibaba's hopes of emulating Usain Bolt and completing a double-double in London were dashed when she could only manage bronze in the women's 5000m final. Dibaba, who won 5000m and 10,000m gold in Beijing, had already won the 10,000m but was overhauled by team-mate Meseret Defar, who regained the title she won in Athens eight years ago. Vivian Cheruiyot launched a late charge to pip Dibaba to silver, while Britain's Jo Pavey and Julia Bleasdale finish seventh and eighth respectively.

Asli Cakir won Turkey's first Olympic track gold as she won a chaotic women's 1500m race. Cakir clocked 4:10.23 ahead of compatriot Gamze Bulut and Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal. Britain's Lisa Dobriskey and Laura Weightman finished 10th and 11th respectively while USA's Morgan Uceny tripped and fell for the second time in a major championship - having tripped in last year's World Championships final.

Steve Lewis finished fifth in the pole vault final after narrowly missing out on breaking his own British record. After successfully clearing 5.50m and 5.65m, Lewis failed to make it over 5.85m as he bowed out of the final. France's Renaud Lavillenie set a new Olympic record of 5.97m to claim gold ahead of German pair Bjorn Otto and Raphael Holzdeppe, while reigning champion Steve Hooker crashed out without recording a height.

Sophie Hitchon's best effort of 69.33 was only good enough for 12th in the women's hammer final as Russia's Tatyana Lysenko won gold with an Olympic record of 78.18m. Hitchon, who broke her own British record with a 71.98m throw in qualifying, failed to challenge for the medal positions as Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk took silver ahead of China's Zhang Wenxiu.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.