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Idowu: disappointment
Men's triple jump:
Gold: Nelson Evora (Por)
Silver: Phillips Idowu (GB)
Bronze: Leevan Sands (Bah)
Also see
Triple jump favourite Phillips Idowu had to settle for a silver medal in Beijing as Nelson Evora claimed Portugal's first Olympic gold for 12 years.
Idowu registered 17.62 on his third jump to sit in gold medal position half way through the competition, but Evora bettered that by five centimetres in his fourth round.
The 29-year-old Briton Idowu, with trademark red hair and long white socks, could not better the target of 17.67m and that proved enough to hand Evora the gold - Portugal's first in Olympic competition since 1996.
Idowu improved on his disappointment of Athens four years ago when he fell apart mentally and failed to make a legal jump in the final.
"It's not what I wanted, but I'll take it," said Idowu.
Tough
"It was a really tough competition, I had to work. I was really close but in the end it wasn't quite enough.
"It hurts. I'm upset. I came here to achieve a lot more and I just fell short.
"I've come a long way, though. Last year I wasn't even in the mix for medals. It's been a long road.
"I'm a winner, I don't want to be content with silver. I will go on. I've been in such great form this year I believed I could do it.
"I went down fighting, I couldn't do more than that."
Leevan Sands of the Bahamas took the bronze with 17.59m, while Larry Achike finished down in seventh place in what should be the veteran's last Olympics.
