David Gillick came home in sixth place in the final of the 400m at the World Athletics Championship in Berlin tonight, trailing the runaway winner LaShawn Merritt of the United States.
Olympic champion Merritt, 23, timed 44.06 seconds - the best time in the world this season - to beat two-time defending champion Jeremy Wariner, also of the United States (44.60sec), while Renny Quow of Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze (45.02sec).
Gillick went out strongly in the first 200m from lane two, storming past Quow on his outside down the back straight.
However, in the home straight, Gillick had nothing left in the tank and Quow powered past him to claim the bronze medal.
At the head of the field, American rivals Wariner and Merritt came out of the final bend neck and neck, and Merritt's superior strength told as he pulled away to win comfortably.
Gillick finished as the top European athelte in what was his first major outdoor final, and this result is a terrific boost ahead of next year's European Championships in Barcelona.
