Robert Grabarz is into the high jump final, there is a strong performance for James Dasaolu in the 100m, Matt Hudson-Smith races in the 400m final and Katie Clark makes her first appearance in the synchronized swimming on day nine at the Olympic Games in Brazil.
In the men’s 400m final, Matthew Hudson-Smith finished in 44. 61 seconds eighth in an astonishing race which saw South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk breaking the world record in 43.03 to win gold.
“That was mental and when you think how quick it was and to be part of that,” said the 21 year old former Loughborough College student.
“I’m a sucker on two 44s. That was again a sucker race and I’m slowly pulling it together for the second year in the really important meetings.
“Training has been going well, I haven’t really raced much this year so I haven’t been able to get the consistency like these guys to run 44s back to back. It’s coming; I just need to race now.
“I thought I was going well on the back straight and then I got to 250m and it was going up another gear. I got to about 150m to go and I tried to kick it but it wasn’t really happening. So it just shows that I need to get more consistency in my training really.
“It’s positive and now go on to the relay and see what I can achieve.”
The Men’s 4x400m relay heats take place on Friday.
Elsewhere, despite strong semi-final performances, James Dasaolu narrowly missed out on the 100m final, finishing sixth in 10.16 seconds – with the event ultimately won later in the night by Usain Bolt.
The former Loughborough College student said: “I feel like I got a good start and I got tall and running well but I didn’t have it towards the end of the race.
“I gave it my best shot and that is all you can do. When you are an athlete at these Games, all you can do is give it your best and leave it all on the track so it is all I could have done.
“Of course I have been in World Championship semi-finals and finals before so as an athlete this is the stage you want to be on.”
“I would have loved to have run sub ten seconds again at these Olympics but it wasn’t to be for me.
“I have the relay to look forward to at the end of the championships so that is where my individual aspirations are as far as the Olympics go.
The Men’s 4x100m relay, heats take place on Thursday.
In the field, former Loughborough College student Robert Grabarz qualified for the men’s high jump final after clearing 2.29m - but compatriot and fellow former student Chris Baker missed out after narrowly failing to clear the height.
Current Loughborough College Sport degree student Katie Clark joined Olivia Federici for their maiden Olympic appearance as a duet on day nine in Rio.
They are Team GB’s only synchronized swimmers in the Games and ranked 18th overall for their first routine, scoring 79.9667.
The Team GB pair duo only returned to the sport late last year having retired after featuring at London 2012 but remained upbeat following the day’s efforts.
“In June we scored 85 so it’s a little bit down from that but it’s a big competition so we can expect that. It’s really nice out there and it’s a nice atmosphere,” said Katie Clark.
“We did our practice for the technical yesterday and we’re feeling good but we’re looking at every detail to make sure we’ve got the best score and the best performance possible.”
Next up for Clark and Federici is today’s Duet Technical Routine.
Day 10 in Rio will also see former Loughborough College student Sophie Hitchon compete in the Women’s Hammer Throw final and Team GB’s women’s hockey squad, featuring fellow former student Nicola White, play Spain in the Olympic quarter final.
Loughborough College student Katie Clark and partner Olivia Federici of Great Britain compete in the Duet Free preliminaries at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre at the Rio Olympic Games. (Alex Whitehead/SWpix)