Green looks to London

Although Jack Green admitted he was ‘absolutely gutted’ after double disappointment in Rio, he has already turned his attention to next summer’s World Championships in London. In Brazil, the 24-year-old Shepway hurdler missed out on a place in the final of the 400m hurdles for the second straight Olympics and to compound his misery, saw his 4x400m relay medal hopes hit by a semi-final disqualification. Despite having to come from behind in the last 100m of his individual race as he so often does, Green was in contention for a shot at qualification for the final going round the final bend. However, the former Brockhill School and Saltwood Primary pupil stuttered in his approach to the eighth hurdle which he hit, robbing him of momentum at a crucial time and leading to him finishing in a time of 49.45secs. Green fell at the third hurdle in the semis at London 2012 and looked nearly as distraught in Rio, later tweeting: “Harsh world of sport – miss a stride into hurdle eight and ruin an Olympic dream. Absolutely gutted but will give it my all if selected for the relay.” As it turned out, Green could not escape the drama in the opening round of the 4x400m in the early hours of Saturday, either. Despite having helped GB to finish fourth in the final in London, Green was omitted from the semi-final line-up, although was expected to run in the final. However, an infringement from Matt Hudson-Smith as he prepared to run the third leg of the race saw GB disqualified, despite the team winning the heat in a superb time of 2.58.88secs.

Euan Cox performs on the parallel bars and, inset, the pommel horse. The other four disciplines for the male artistic gymnast are floor exercise, still rings, vault and high bar