Late departure: Tucker finally gets running after her shoe trouble

Helen Tucker had swum strongly and cycled excellently, but it all started to go wrong when she tried to put on her running shoes. Having completed two-thirds of the triathlon in the leading pack, the Welsh athlete struggled to swap one set of pumps for the other, ruining her medal bid as she finished 21st overall.

Tucker arrived sixth in the final transition area before the 10km run and left it in 16th. 'My shoe got tucked in when I put it on and I got caught up,' said Tucker, 24. 'It was a bit of a shocker.'

Great Britain's hockey women saw their medal hopes end after a dismal goalless draw against the United States. With second-placed Argentina beating New Zealand 3-2, GB fell three points short of the semi-finals. Captain Kate Walsh said: 'We are gutted.'

Skelton slams bad sports

Showjumpers Nick Skelton and Tim Stockdale labelled rivals 'unsporting' after team-mate John Whitaker was not allowed to compete in the team final.

Whitaker, unable to ride on Sunday due to a problem with his horse Peppermill, expected to participate on Monday but was ruled ineligible after seven teams protested. Britain slipped from fourth to seventh.

Skelton said: 'It's all about sportsmanship at the Olympics. It's ridiculous.'

The United States won gold after a jump-off with Canada, whose Ian Millar, 61, won his first medal at his ninth Games.

Marathon world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie regrets his decision to miss Sunday's race. The Ethiopian, 35, who suffers from asthma, visited Beijing in February and feared the city's air pollution would damage his health.

Gebrselassie, sixth in the 10,000m, said: 'Now I am here again everything is perfect.' Asked if he was sorry not to be running on Sunday, he said: 'Yes.'