Javelin

Steve Backley won Britain's first medal in athletics in the Olympic stadium, but once more he had to settle for silver in the javelin behind Jan Zelezny, who won gold for the third time in a row.

Trailing in fourth place after the first round, Backley launched a throw of 89.95m to set a new Olympic record, but that was still not enough for him to win that elusive gold. Zelezney responded with 90.17 with his third throw to reclaim the Olympic best and to relegate Backley to second place.

There was disappointment for Britain's other finallist, Mick Hill, who failed to make it past the third round.

European Cup winner Sergey Makarov of Russia, whose father Alexsandr won Olympic silver in 1980, took bronze with a throw of 88.67.

In the women's event, Norway's Trine Hattestad cruised to the gold medal with her first-round throw of 68.91m.

Greece's Mirella Maniani-Tzelili took the silver, leaving Cuba's Osleidys Menendez with the bronze.