BEIJING // World record holder Dayron Robles duly won the 110m hurdles in a race robbed of much of its excitement by the absence of Chinese star Liu Xiang through injury. Cuba's Robles surged clear over the second half of the race to win gold ahead of the American duo David Payne and David Oliver. Robles' time of 12.93secs was just 0.02secs outside the Olympic record set by Liu in Athens in 2004.
"I'm happy I'm champion, I'm ecstatic, it's always been my dream," Robles said. "I've learnt a lot over the past couple of years and my technique has improved significantly this year." Britain's Phillips Idowu saw Olympic gold snatched from his grasp by an agonising five centimetres in the triple jump final. Idowu produced his best jump of the year to lead with 17.62 metres after the third round, only to see Portugal's Nelson Evora then leap 17.67m in the next round.
