Shara Proctor was just one jump away from becoming World Champion before American Tianna Bartoletta took the gold medal with a personal best jump of 7.14m. Proctor extended her own British record to 7.07m with the forth jump, and held the lead right until the final round when Bartoletta took the win. Proctor had one jump left, but was unable to jump further and had to settle for the silver.
Bartoletta, who first won gold as a nineteen-year-old 10 years ago, now has her second World title after winning in Beijing. Behind her in second, Proctor became the first Brition to jump over seven meters. Serbia's Ivana Spanovic took bronze with a jump of 7.01m.
Anguillan born Protctor, who transferred her allegiance to Great Britian in 2010 because her home country isn't recognised by the International Olympic Association, was delighted with her medal saying "I feel like a winner, I don't care about the colour of the medal. I was told I might not be strong enough. I'm here, I conquered."
Fellow Brits Lorraine Ugen and Katarina Johnson-Thompson were also competing in the long jump on Friday. Ugen finished fifth with a best of 6.85m in the second round. But Johnson-Thompson had another under-par day, after struggling with the long jump when competing in the heptathlon. She exited the competition after just three jumps, with a longest jump of 6.63m.