Battling Brits fall short

Andrew Johns and Tim Don produced battling performances in the Olympic triathlon today but came away empty-handed.

Johns, the British number one, was particularly strong in the middle cycling leg but faded in the run and finished in 16th place, three minutes 8.14 seconds behind surprise gold medal-winner Hamish Carter of New Zealand.

Don, who goes by the nickname of 'The Don', was first out of the water for Team GB in the opening swim leg but ended up in 18th place with a time of 3mins 34.40secs.

Team GB's other contender, Marc Jenkins, was cursed with bad luck after a broken back wheel mid-way through the cycling leg ended his hopes.

To his credit though Jenkins, who was called up as a late replacement for the injured Paul Amey, refused to give in and ran with his bike to a wheel station to change the wheel and he continued the race.

The 28-year-old finished last to a heroes welcome from the British fans.

With an immensely strong field in Athens, including five world champions and the likes of Sydney gold medallist Simon Whitfield of Canada, it was always going to be a tough ask for a British medal, especially in the sweltering conditions.