Team England's John Lane has admitted that he "didn't have a great day" as the decathlon came to a close at the Commonwealth Games this evening.
Lane entered the day in second place and was still in line for a silver medal with just two events remaining in the evening session at Hampden Park.
However, a javelin throw of just 52.25m was followed by a ninth-place finish in the 1,500m, results which saw the 25-year-old drop to fourth in the overall standings, missing out on a medal by 148 points to Grenada's Kurt Felix.
After the event, he spoke to Sports Mole about how he felt having posted a personal best only to still miss out on a place on the podium.
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When we spoke yesterday, you said you'd be happy with a PB, while a medal would be a bonus. Do you still feel that way?
"I wish I'd scored a PB by more than about four points, but decathlon is putting 10 events together. I put 10 events together, [but only put] five really good events together. Today wasn't so great, but you get that sometimes in decathlon. I'm just happy that I crossed the line in relatively one piece and yeah, got a PB."
You had seven impressive results over the two days. Is that as well as you had hoped to perform?
"I said coming into the Games that a PB was what I want, and a medal, if I could snatch it, great. I didn't have a great day today but I had a great day yesterday and I'll always remember. I'll never forget what happened yesterday, it was a great day for me. I've got maybe one more decathlon this year, and if not, back into winter."
What was the difference between the two days? Did fatigue play a major part, with your worst performances coming in the later events?
"Yeah, I mean fatigue always plays a part in the decathlon but I wouldn't say that is the main reason. I just didn't do it on the day, execute what I needed to on the day. But that comes with experience and that comes with competing in these stadiums against these people. But I'm happy, to be honest."
Are you confident that you can learn from those mistakes you made and improve in future events?
"Yeah, decathlon in Britain is especially on the rise. It's four, five people. There are loads of us that are going to keep pushing the bar up so it's good to be part of and hopefully I can take that forward in the next couple of years."
One of those people is Ashley Bryant, who picked up the silver today. He told us yesterday that the friendly rivalry between you two was a good thing - do you agree with that?
"Yeah, completely agree. I mean, we push each other on. He's good at some events, I'm good at some events, so it always comes down to the last couple of events. It's healthy, it's good, especially in training."
Canada's Damian Warner picked up gold in the event this evening.
Barney Corkhill
