Great Britain's Phillips Idowu during the Men's Triple Jump Qualification Group A at the Olympic Stadium, London, during day eleven of the London 2012 Olympics.

Hackney triple jumper misses out by four centimetres

Hackney’s Phillips Idowu suffered heartbreak in his triple jump qualification session in the Olympic Stadium this morning as he failed to progress to Thursday’s final.

The 33-year-old Beijing silver medallist only managed to register two out of three jumps in the qualification round, and didn’t look comfortable competing in his first competition in over two months.

The former Hackney Downs School pupil managed a first jump of just 16.47 metres before fouling his second attempt.

Needing to record 16.57 to progress to the final, Idowu came up four metres short, jumping just 16.53, well below his best, to finish the qualification session in 14th place, with only the top 12 heading into the final.