PLYMOUTH athlete David King said he was pleased with the way he handled his first senior championships.
The 22-year-old reached the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
Despite running into a strong -1.8 headwind, King, representing Great Britain, equalled his legal personal best of 13.54 seconds in the semi-finals.
However, it was not enough to progress to the showpiece final. He was given sixth in his semi, despite finishing with the same time as two athletes in front of him.
In a fast race, France’s Wilhem Belocian won in 13.28, with Hungary’s Balazs Bajo second in 13.29 and Poland’s Damian Czykier third in 13.32. Italy’s Emauele Abate was given fourth with 13.54, which was also the time given to fifth-placed Vladimir Vukicevic of Norway and King. The City of Plymouth hurdler was ranked 15th overall out of 32 athletes who entered the event.
The day before, King had won his heat in 13.55 seconds in heavy rain.
Both race conditions prevented the former Devonport High School for Boys pupil from running the all-important Olympic qualifying time of 13.47 seconds.
King had ran under it once in Switzerland last month but it was not ratified due to a problem with the automatic timing.
After his semi-final run in Amsterdam, King said: “To run an equal PB hitting hurdles into a headwind is gutting, but I’m so pleased with how I handled myself at my first senior champs!”
Fellow Brit Lawrence Clarke also missed out on qualifying for the final. He was ranked 10th overall with 13.47 seconds. However, Andy Pozzi did reach the final with a personal best time of 13.31 seconds.