Idowu ready to lead track team into the medal jamboree

Phillips Idowu bounded into the final of the triple jump today with just one confident leap, raising hopes that Britain's track and field athletes may be ready to join the Olympic Games medal jamboree here in Beijing.

After a weekend spent watching the rest of Team GB scooping up medals like conkers, the track team, having seen disappointments for Kelly Sotherton (fifth in the heptathlon) and Paula Radcliffe (23rd in the marathon), have conspicuously failed to join the party.

Now their hopes will be resting primarily on two Londoners, Idowu and Stratford's Christine Ohuruogu, who is poised to challenge American Sanya Richards for gold in tomorrow's 400 metres final.

But Idowu, unbeaten all season, remains the No1 prospect and, despite his piercing-dotted face being racked with seeming anxiety before he jumped here today, he used a controlled run up, hit the board safely to record 17.44 metres, easily bettering the 17.10m qualifying mark and comfortably the best of any of the 12 qualifiers for Thursday's final.

Former champion Jonathan Edwards was impressed.

The 2000 winner said: "He was nowhere near flat out and there appears much more to come and I thought Phillips handled the pressure incredibly well today." Larry Achike also qualified with a 17.18m leap.

Croydon's dramatically improving quarter-miler Martyn Rooney booked his place in tomorrow's semis of the 400m, easing up to win his heat in 45.00sec. "I'll have to run close to the UK record (44.36sec) to make sure I get into the final," said the 21-year-old, who should make it on his current exciting form.