OXFORDSHIRE’S athletes found the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium to be anything but a happy hunting ground at the Muller Anniversary Games, writes STUART WEIR.

Lawrence Clarke, from Christmas Common, near Watlington, was disqualified from the 110m hurdles final for a false start.

And Oxford City’s Nathan Douglas could only finish ninth in the triple jump in the tenth Diamond League meeting of the season.

Clarke ran 13.50secs for fourth place in his heat, but was far from satisfied with his time and being unable to put things right in the final, which was won by training partner Dimitri Bascou.

The 26-year-old said: “I wasn’t quite awake. I didn’t feel quite right.

“I executed the race the coach wanted, but I didn’t run, so I was really primed for the final, really ready but I jumped the gun.

“I am disappointed because I was ready to run fast.”

Nonetheless, Clarke remains upbeat about next month’s Olympic Games, which take place in Rio from August 5.

He said: “I think I am in the best shape of my life, I am really happy.

“It is just I haven’t quite done it in a race yet.

“Even in the heat I feel I was saving myself for Rio and not taking any risks in terms of my fitness or anything.”

In the triple jump, Douglas could only manage efforts of 16.19m, 16.24, and a foul to finish ninth.

Under the new IAAF protocol, only the top four athletes get more than the initial three jumps, leaving the 33-year-old frustrated.

He said: “The competition was over so quickly with the new rules.

“I just mistimed my first two jumps and then really had to go for the third.

“It is just where I am at the moment. It is so long since I had a full season that I am still struggling to get my rhythm.

“It is like learning to walk again – that is the only way I can explain it.”

Olympic and world champion, Christian Taylor, won with a World Leading leap of 17.78.

It was, however, a special day for Douglas who added: “I watched the 2012 Olympics from the stand, injured.

“I have waited until 2016 to compete for the first time in the Olympic Stadium.

“It was great to be here with my family watching.”