Flying start for Awde with 100m PB

Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

Britain's Daniel Awde made a superb start to the gruelling decathlon on Wednesday with a personal best in the opening event in the Olympic Stadium.

Awde responded to the roars of another capacity 80,000 crowd with a storming run of 10.71 seconds in the fourth and final heat of the 100 metres, taking 0.14secs off his previous best.
That was good enough to put the 24-year-old in seventh place overall, 85 points behind world record holder Ashton Eaton, who ran an Olympic decathlon best of 10.35s to lead fellow American Trey Hardee by 17 points.
There was more good news for the host nation as Sophie Hitchon improved her own British record to give herself a chance of reaching the women's hammer final.
Hitchon was set to bow out after a first-round attempt of 67.21m and a foul in the second, but the 21-year-old then produced a superb throw of 71.98m in the final round, 37cm further than her previous best.
That was still short of the automatic qualifying distance of 73m, but good enough for fifth overall in Group A with 12 athletes across both qualifying groups advancing to the final.
Mo Farah did not have to wait to discover his fate after finishing third in the first heat of the 5,000m, the 10,000m champion safely advancing to Saturday's final as he aims to complete the Olympic long-distance double.
Farah's coach, Alberto Salazar, said on Tuesday he thought the 29-year-old had recovered well from his exertions in the 10,000m, but Farah was still made to work hard to advance in a time of 13 minutes 26 seconds.
"It was pretty difficult," Farah told the BBC. "I was a bit tired, it took a bit more out of me than I was expecting, but I'm really happy with where I am now and I've got a couple of days off.
"I kept getting caught, there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on, that's what happens in the heats. Hopefully it will settle down in the final. I'm going to go out and give it 110%, that's all you can do. It just depends how my legs allow me (to run).
"I will have done 50 laps around that track [by the end of the 5,000m final] and it wasn't the easiest 10k, but I've got a great medical team. I'll be in good hands."
Britain's Nick McCormick actually ran quicker than Farah in the considerably faster second heat, but could only finish 12th in 13:25.70 to miss out on a place as a faster loser in the final.
Hitchon was delighted with her British record, adding: "I was just proud to be on the team and to come here at a morning session, with a full crowd and throw a PB and a British record, it was amazing.
"I did the same at the Europeans (leaving it to the last throw) and I don't know why. I like to put a lot of pressure on myself for some reason. I knew it was there, I've been throwing really well in training. I was ready and obviously it showed. Hopefully it will be enough to get into the final.
"I've never competed in front of a massive crowd like this and 90% of the whole crowd is cheering for you. Everyone just wants you to do really well."
Awde found himself under huge pressure in the decathlon long jump when his first two jumps were fouls, and was understandably well behind the board with his final attempt.
The resulting distance of 6.83m was well down on his personal best of 7.47m and saw him drop to 19th overall, 379 points behind Eaton, who had jumped 8.03m to extend his lead over Hardee to 143 points.
Another athlete under pressure was Scotland's Lynsey Sharp, whose selection for the 800m with only the 'B' qualifying time meant four athletes with the 'A' standard - Jenny Meadows, Emma Jackson, Jemma Simpson and Marilyn Okoro - missed out.
However, the European silver medallist responded well to finish second in her heat behind defending Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo, easily qualifying automatically for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Hitchon discovered her superb last-round effort was indeed good enough for a place in the final, the former ballet dancer finishing 10th overall after the conclusion of Group B.
And fellow British record holder Steve Lewis also advanced to the pole vault final with just one vault, a first-time clearance of 5.50m enough for the 26-year-old to go through as one of the 14 qualifiers.