CITY of Plymouth athlete David King finished third in the men’s 110m hurdles at the British Championships in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon.

King clocked 13.57 seconds – the exact same time as he had run in the morning’s heats – to finish behind Andy Pozzi and Lawrence Clarke.

Pozzi won in 13.31 seconds, with Clarke stopping the clock at 13.44. By finishing in the top two and running under the 13.47 second barrier Pozzi and Clarke have both guaranteed their places in the Great Britain team for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.

GB can take a third athlete in the 110m hurdles, but no-one else as yet has achieved their ‘official’ qualifying time.

King thought he had achieved it earlier in the month in Switzerland. He ran 13.40 seconds at the Gala Dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, but British officials have not accepted that time as there was a problem with the automatic timing.

The deadline for achieving the qualifying time is July 11, so the door is still possibly open for King, although the 22-year-old is expected to be selected instead for the European Championships in Amsterdam, which takes place between July 6-10.

European under-23 champion David Omoregie was fourth in Birmingham in 13.67.

King, who won the British under-23 last week, has been impressively consistent this season. He has run under the 13.60 barrier five times in recent weeks.