Enfield high jumper thrilled with bronze in men's Olympic final (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Enfield high jumper Robbie Grabarz thrilled with bronze in men's Olympic final

10:58am Wednesday 8th August 2012 in Sport By Hermione Wright

Enfield’s medal-winning streak was not cut short yesterday, with an Enfield high jumper winning bronze for Team GB.

Robbie Grabarz cleared 2.29metres in yesterday’s men’s high jump final to win Britain its 48th medal of the Olympic Games.

The rising star, who was born in Enfield and now lives in Cambridgeshire, was going for gold after he jumped straight to the top of the qualifying table on Monday by clearing all three 2.21m, 2.26m and 2.29m without fault.

However, after three attempts yesterday the 24-year-old was unable to jump 2.33m, pushing Russia’s Ivan Ukhov to first place and America’s Erik Kynard to silver position.

He cleared the 2.29m bar first time, along with Canada's Derek Drouin and Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim, who also claimed the bronze medal with Grabarz.

His medal was all the more special, marking the most Olympic medals won by Team GB for104 years. Grabarz's bronze meant Britain surpassed the 47 medals it won in Beijing in 2008. 

After his win, Grabarz told the BBC: "It seems like fiction to me. It's incredible. I'm really proud.

"If someone had said I would get a bronze at London 2012 at any point of my life, I would have bitten their hand off.”

His bronze medal is somewhat unexpected, as only a year ago, the rising star came 23rd at the European Indoor Championships in France and failed to make the final.

He lost National Lottery this year due to a string of poor performances and admits that he went through a phase of not putting his all into the sport.

However, his coach Fuzz Ahmed told him this year to take a look at himself and encouraged him to stick at the sport in a bid to win a medal for Team GB.

Grabarz tweeted this morning: “I don't have Ukhovs shirt, but I do have an Olympic bronze #TookTheStage.”