• World Indoor Championships

Record-breaking Meadows has to settle for silver

Jenny Meadows was the leader with 200 metres remaining © Getty Images

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Day Three gallery

Jenny Meadows broke her own British 800m indoor record at the World Indoor Athletics Championship on Sunday, but was forced to settle for a silver medal.

The 28-year-old finished 0.2 seconds behind Russia's Mariya Savinova, with American Alysia Johnson claiming bronze. Savinova's time of 1:58.26 was the fastest of the year.

Meadows was the leader with 200m remaining, but she was unable to keep pace with Savinova's late burst. Her medal was Britain's third of four in the games, after the men's 4x400m relay team added bronze to golds for Dwain Chambers and Jessica Ennis on Saturday.

"It was a big challenge and the girls were enormously strong," said Meadows on the IAAF World Indoor Championships website. "When I saw the time I told to myself that at least it was a new PB. So I think silver is fantastic."

There was more good news for Great Britain in the final event of the Championships, which saw the quartet of Richard Buck, Chris Clarke, Nigel Levine, and Conrad Williams claim bronze in a frantic 4x400m final.

Britain came home in a time of 3:07.52 behind the US and Belgium, after the Bahamas and Jamaica failed to get the baton round due to injuries. USA were on a different level though as Jamaal Torrance, Greg Nixon, Tavaris Tate and Bershawn Jackson clocked a time of 3:03.40 to claim their nation's seventh gold medal in the event.

After Dwain Chambers took gold in the men's 60m final on Saturday, it was the turn of Veronica Campbell-Brown to claim the women's event on Sunday. The two-time Olympic 200m champion and 2007 World 100m champion produced the fastest winning time at a World Indoor final for 11 years to see off her more fancied rivals LaVerne Jones-Ferrette and Carmelita Jeter, who took silver and bronze respectively.

Women's world Pole Vault record holder Yelena Isinbayeva collapsed on the global stage once again at the World Indoors, failing to take home a medal on Sunday. Brazilian Fabiana Murer won gold after Isinbayeva failed to clear 4.75m in all three attempts.

"It's just something strange that happens to me and I can't get over," she admitted. "I felt really good physically. Maybe it's a mental thing and I'm trying too hard. Every time I feel the pressure of having to be the best, win the medals, and not let down all my fans, the Russians, myself. I need to find the spark again mentally. To win at this level you need to be fresh."

There was heartbreak for US hurdler Terrence Trammell, who equalled the American record in the men's 60m hurdles final, only to see his dreams of gold snatched away by Dayron Robles. A time of 7.34 won it for Robles, taking him just 0.04 seconds shy of Colin Jackson's world record.

Sudan favourite Abubaker Kaki took gold in the men's 800m event, becoming the first man to retain the title since Kenyan great Paul Erengthe in 1991. Kaki claimed victory in 1:46.23, fending off Kenya's Boaz Lalang and Poland's Adam Kszczot.

Bernard Lagat takes it easy in the 3000m final © Getty Images

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Helen Clitheroe was eighth in the 1500m final, over two seconds behind Ethiopian winner Kalkidan Gezahegne. The 18-year-old picked the perfect time to kick past defending champion Gelete Burka, becoming the youngest woman to win a World Indoor title.

There was a shock in the women's Shot Put too as gold went to Belarussian Nadezya Ostapchuk, who set two Championship records to end Valerie Vili's two-and-a-half-year unbeaten run. A throw of 20.85m, almost a metre below her personal best, was enough to claim gold.

The men's 3000m final shaped into a classic for large parts of the race, before the ultra-cool American star Bernard Lagat eased through the gears with 200m remaining. Lagat, 35, edged out Tariku Bekele, who eventually finished fourth, to become the oldest man in history to win gold at a World Indoor Championships, beating 1985 5000m walk champion Gerard Lelievre by 22 days.

There was more joy for the US in the women's 4x400m final, where Russia's run of eight successive titles - a World Indoor Championships record - was broken after a thrilling finale. The USA quartet, which was anchored by three-time World Outdoor 200m champion Allyson Felix, came home in 3:27.25 to win by 0.19 seconds for their first ever gold medal in this event.

France rejoiced in the men's Triple Jump, after Teddy Tamgho set a new World Indoor record of 17.90m to take the gold medal. Cuba's Aliecer Urrutia and Sweden's Christian Olsson had previously shared the record with 17.83m, but Tamgho smashed through that marker with his final jump of the competition.

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