Jessica Smith’s Olympics end in semifinal

It was a gutsy run, as Jessica Smith hung with the contenders through a quick first lap, but her legs appeared to get a bit heavy in the final 150m of the 800m semifinals, Thursday at London’s Olympic stadium.

Smith of North Vancouver, B.C., finished seventh in her heat in 2:01.90, failing to advance to Friday’s final.

“I gave it my all,” Smith told CTV. “I expected it to be fast through the first 400m, [but] my legs just didn’t have it through the last 300m.

“I had to go with them to stay in contact.”

It was still a successful Olympic debut for the 23-year-old Simon Fraser student. She advanced past the first round with relative ease and gained valuable experience for the future.

“I’m going to take this whole process and make sure I go over it, and I don’t forget the little details. I really want to build on what I’ve done.”

Kenya’s David Rudisha smashes 800m world record

In the men’s 800m final, David Rudisha of Kenya made history, breaking the world record in 1:40.91. (Rudisha also owned the previous mark of 1:41.01.) He led from start to finish and was never really challenged. He split 400m in 49.28 and 600m in 1:14.30, en route to the gold medal.

Nigel Amos of Botswana, a junior, was second in 1:41.73, while Kenya’s Timothy Ketum took bronze in 1:42.53. The race was fast at the front and at the back, with eighth-place Andrew Osagie of Great Britain running 1:43.77.

Canada’s Damian Warner 5th in decathlon

Damian Warner of London, Ont., surprised everybody with a fifth place finish in the Olympic decathlon. His final score of 8,442 was a personal best by more than 300 points. Warner set six personal bests over the course of the two-day competition.

American Ashton Eaton, the world record holder, won gold with 8,869 points. Eaton is engaged to Canadian heptathlete Brianne Theisen of Humboldt, Sask.