Grabarz grateful for eighth as Britain fail to add to medal tally
OLYMPIC bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz labelled his eighth-place finish at the World Championships yesterday as “acceptable” after an enthralling high jump competition in Moscow.
The 25-year-old struggled to pick himself up after the euphoria of London 2012 subsided and missed out on the European Team Championships in June with a knee injury.
Grabarz cleared 2.29m in yesterday’s final, some nine centimetres lower than bronze medal winner Derek Drouin managed, but acknowledged even a lifetime best of 2.37m would have seen him miss out on a podium finish, such was the standard of jumping.
“It’s an incredible standard and it’s not been a fantastic season for me anyway, so eighth place is obviously disappointing but I’ll take it,” he said. “I’m not jumping over the moon but with the run I’ve had it’s acceptable.”
The British team failed to add to their two medals secured already this week by Mo Farah and Christine Ohuruogu, as Hannah England took fourth place in the 1,500m while a knee problem saw Perri Shakes-Drayton struggle to seventh in the 400m hurdles final, behind compatriot Eilidh Child, who placed fifth.
Earlier in the day, Marilyn Okoro ran a season’s best to progress in the 800m, but Laura Muir and teenager Jessica Judd missed out spots in the final.
Meanwhile, Anyika Onoura and Jodie Williams failed to reach the 200m final.