Whatever happens during the rest of Danny Talbot’s career he will always remember the moment he matched Wayde van Niekerk stride for stride down the home straight of the London Stadium – and set a 200m personal best in the process.

True it was only the first round. But his time of 20.16sec in finishing second to the world 400m record holder by a thousandth of a second suggests the athlete they call The Rake could yet spike the hopes of some of his more fancied rivals.

Another Briton, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who strained a little harder and went a little faster in coming second in his heat in 20.08 – before being upgraded to first when the Canadian Aaron Brown was disqualified – also looked impressive.

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Talking up podium places for British athletes is probably unwise given the underwhelming championships the team are having. But this 200m has been blown open by the absence of Usain Bolt from the event that has been his personal fiefdom since 2008, as well as an injury to the Olympic silver medallist, Andre De Grasse, and the withdrawal of the Botswanan Isaac Makwala, the fastest man in the world this year, who pulled out of his 200m heat owing to food poisoning.

Makwala was withdrawn by the IAAF medical advisers because he was throwing up in the call room – and he surely must be a major doubt to face Van Niekerk in tonight’s 400m final.

That leaves Van Niekerk as the overwhelming favourite to double up. However, he was not allowed to conserve energy for the 400m final owing to a sparky run by Talbot, who smiled at his friend as they crossed the line together at the same time.

Talbot said: “He’s great. I grew up racing him in the juniors and I’ve known him for seven years. We’re good friends. To see someone like that do so well inspires you.”

He added: “He’s a great guy, a great athlete and it’s great to be on the track with these guys but at the same time you want to beat them. Hopefully I can do that.”

Mitchell-Blake, who was born a short walk from the London Stadium, was also talking up his chances after his heat. “To get through with one of the fastest times is always a good achievement. Hopefully I’ll get a good lane in the next round and set myself up and try to execute.”

The 23-year-old, who has run under 10 seconds for 100m and under 20 seconds for 200m in the US collegiate system, added: “It felt amazing, the track is second to none, the cheering. Before the race I kind of premeditated what I was going to do and just embraced it – it was beautiful. I don’t set myself any limits. The sky is the limit, let’s go for a medal. Let’s win.”

The final British athlete in the 200m, Zharnel Hughes, who was controversially selected ahead of Adam Gemili for the wild-card spot, had to rely on a fastest losers’ spot to reach the semi-finals after finishing only fourth in his heat in 20.43.

Hughes, who finished fifth in the 2015 final in Beijing but missed the Olympics with a serious knee injury, said: “I think my start was just a little bit too sleepy. My transition was a bit OK but getting into the home straight I started to feel a bit of tightness. However, then I relaxed a bit and then I got through. My coach and I will work definitely on my start but the rest is good. I’m healthy. That was is a warm-up for me and I will better myself.”

It has been a curiously poor championships for Jamaica and Warren Weir could finish only fourth in his heat in 20.60. His compatriot Yohan Blake looked comfortable enough in winning his heat in 20.39.

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For the third night in a row, Jamaica’s fans packed the London Stadium hoping for a golden night. On Saturday and Sunday they were denied, as Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson suffered shock defeats. Omar McLeod was determined it was not going to happen a third time.

McLeod, the Olympic champion, made a lightning start and was never surpassed as he came home in 13.04 – a 10th of a second clear of Sergey Shubenkov, the Russian who is competing as neutral athlete. The Hungarian Balaszs Baji took a shock bronze in 13.28sec. McLeod said: “This is for my mum, and to keep Jamaica on a high. Even though Usain Bolt lost, his name is still legendary.”

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Earlier the 19-year-old Bahraini Salwa Eid Nasser gave another hint she could be a future star as she pipped the reigning world champion Allyson Felix to win their 400m semi-final in 50.08 sec. In fairness, Felix looked to have plenty in reserve – and today’s final is likely to be a rematch between her and Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who pipped her at the Rio Olympics. Britain’s Zoey Clarke ran an impressive personal best of 51.81 to finish seventh in her semi-final. A few minutes earlier, 400m hurdler Jack Green also went out after finishing fourth in 49.93 in his semi-final.

Clarke said:“In the end, it was my highest finish at a Worlds, take away the time. Olympics – I didn’t finish the semi-final, Rio I came last, here it was fourth. So I take it for that, but I’m really disappointed because things have been going really well. But welcome to sport.

“It’s a huge journey. I’m obviously very disappointed because I believed there was a strong chance of being a finalist here – that was the aim, but I wasn’t running that long ago; I was taking a full break from everything, and now I’m back here competing for my country which is what it’s all about.

The British team captain, Eilidh Doyle, has denied the mood in the camp is downbeat after a number of medal opportunities went begging.

“It’s very positive,” she said after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles in third place. “Mo set it up on the first night but although we’ve not got medals, you’ve had people like Callum Hawkins finishing fourth in the marathon and Reece Prescod – in his first championship – making it to the 100m final.” Doyle was joined in the semi-finals by Meghan Beesley.

An enthralling women’s triple final was won by the Venezuelan athlete Yulimar Rojas who beat the Columbian Rojas Coleraine Ibarguen by two centimetres with a leap of 14.91.