by Charlie Talbot-Smith in Moscow
His consistency is impressive but that was little consolation to William Sharman after he finished outside the medals once again at a World Championships.
The 28-year-old Belgrave Harrier came home fifth in the 110m hurdles final yesterday in Moscow, narrowly missing out on a medal with a time of 13.30 seconds as American David Oliver stormed to gold in 13 flat.
He has now finished in the top five at the last three World Championships, only the second Brit to do so after Tony Jarrett, but has failed to snatch a place on the podium in any of them.
And, after clipping the first hurdle as he burst from the blocks in the Luzhniki Stadium, Sharman cut a disconsolate figure at where he finished.
“I’m not very pleased with that,” he said. “I made a mistake off hurdle one and it was hard work from there.
“It’s good to make the final but once you’re in the final you have to get a medal and all I needed to do was to perform to the best of my ability – I can’t wake up the next day and say I did that.
“At the beginning of the season this was the aim, you have to improve on what you’ve done before. I can look back on my career and say that I sat out two years with injury and if I hadn’t done that I’d be leading the world rankings year after year.
“But that’s not the case. You have to deal with the trials and tribulations.”
And, while the disappointment was etched all over Sharman’s face, he still found time to thank his team and support for their hard work in getting him to the start line in Moscow.
“I have to move on from here,” he added. “I’ll speak to my coach and I’ll speak to all the guys that have helped me.
“Everyone has worked really well, the British Athletics team physios have believed in me. I want to say a special thank you to Andy Burke the osteopath because we’re like a team.
“I just get on the couch and he can read my body; he knows what we need to do and what not to do, we’ve got that balance perfectly.
“I also want to say thank you to Neil Black and the selectors for choosing me to perform for Great Britain because I love doing it time after time and it’s great to put on the vest and be a part of the team.”
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