LAWRENCE CLARKE’S return to the scene of his finest moment in athletics ended in disappointment on Friday.
Back in 2012, Clarke, originally from Bibury, surprised even himself with a fourth place finish in the final of the 110m hurdles at the London Olympic Games.
He has endured two frustrating injury-plagued seasons since then but was looking forward to tackling a world class field in the London Anniversary Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after a string of fine recent results.
In Lucerne, Switzerland he equalled his Olympic final time (13.39) from three years ago.
And twice since then he has achieved the qualifying time for next month’s world championships in Beijing in winning races at both Loughborough and Bellinzona, Switzerland.
But having posted another world championship qualifying time of 13.41 in his heat, Clarke had a disaster in the final.
He was rocked right on the back foot by clattering both the first two hurdles hard and though he bravely tried to get back in the race, he flattened another hurdle later in the race before crossing the line in eighth place in a time of 13.67.
The wet track and unseasonably cold conditions were far from ideal but a smooth passage through the race would have seen him go close to his personal best of 13.31.
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