OLYMPICS SPOILER ALERT: Men’s 400m hurdles results, with local athlete competing

30 year old American Kerron Clement won the men’s 400 meter hurdles at the Olympics Thursday morning. He finished first with a time of 47.73 seconds, narrowly beating out Kenya’s Boniface Mucheru, who won silver in 47.78 seconds.

Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson, the bronze medalist in the event in London in 2012, was disqualified after a heartbreaking false start. “Fourth is the worst place, as you are so close”.

Leading the top four athletes, including Ireland’s Thomas Barr in fourth, to sub-48 seconds, the American adds to his two individual world gold medals claimed in 2007 and 2009.

The Olympic and world champion had a 115-point lead over world championship silver medallist Damian Warner after seven events in the decathlon. On Thursday, the gold medal bout of the men’s light heavyweight division between Cuba’s Julio Cesar La Cruz and Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov will be held, with there also being semifinal bouts in three other divisions.

“I was a lot more concerned about the start and getting the baton around”. The time by Japan improved on the Asian record 37.82 which had just been set in the first heat by China as the team finished behind United States of America with 37.65.

That race was won by Germany in 42.18 from Nigeria’s 42.55. Now he has gold to go with his silver from the 2008 Beijing Games.

Clement has achieved a measure of fame off the track, featuring in a music video for pop diva Beyonce’s hit “Run the World” after being invited to attend the filming in Los Angeles by a dancer friend.

Eaton earned 777 points and ranked eighth in the discus throw with a best mark of 45.49 metres, giving him 6,398 points overall.