Tanya Blake failed to progress to the semi-finals of the 800 metres event after she finished last in heat six last night.

Blake, who had qualified for the Games by her own merit, kept the pace with the frontrunners in the first lap, but she began to lose ground as the race progressed. The Maltese was the last runner at the finish line in 2:19.34... more than 19 seconds slower than her national record of 1:59.56. Russia's Tatyana Andrianova won the heat in 2:03.77.

Darren Gilford will compete for Malta in today's opening heat of the men's 100 metres.

The Maltese sprinter will run alongside Britain's young sensation Mark Lewis Francis (PB: 10.04), Kakianako Nariki of Kiribati (11.50), Saudi Arabia's Mubarak Salem Al Yami (10.13), Roland Nemeth (10.08) of Hungary, Ghana's Aziz Zakari (10.00), Khalil Al Hanahneh (10.44) of Jordan and Trinidad sprinter Marc Burns (10.12).

Gilford's chances of progressing to the next round look very slim as all but one of his opponents have a superior personal best than his.

However, the 19-year-old will be looking to put up a good performance and possibly improve his own national record of 10.55.

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