PLYMOUTH athlete David King justified his late call-up to the Great Britain team by storming through the heats of the 110m hurdles at the European Championships in Amsterdam on Friday.

The 22-year-old, making his senior Great Britain debut, eased to victory in his race to book a spot in Saturday’s semi-finals.

In heavy rain but no wind, King clocked 13.55 seconds, which was just 0.08 seconds off the Olympic qualifying time. He was well clear of Italy’s Lorenze Perini, who was second in 13.68 seconds.

The former Devonport High School for Boys pupil, who was only added to the squad on Monday after William Sharman pulled out, was third fastest overall out of the three heats, with Europe’s fastest ranked athletes having a bye through to the semis.