Fincham-Dukes hungry for medal success after Euro long jump controversy

By Will Jennings in Munich Jacob Fincham-Dukes insists his controversial European Championship heartbreak will intensify his hunger for success after having his long jump silver medal ruthlessly ripped away in Munich. Ad Fincham-Dukes produced a stunning leap of 8.06m on his first jump to propel himself onto the podium before going on to complete a lap of honour at the city's 1972 Olympic Stadium.

Athletics'The gold should have been mine': Neita rues cramp as she settles for bronzeAN HOUR AGO But a protest lodged by the rival French team accused the 25-year-old of fouling on that attempt after footage – captured on Swedish coach Yannick Tregaro's phone – suggested Fincham-Dukes had overstepped the board. An ostensibly new error-proof, computerised and VAR-style system in place means that any overstepping – even by a matter of millimetres barely visible to the naked eye – is now a foul and after the French appeal was upheld late on Tuesday evening, Fincham-Dukes was demoted to fifth and had his medal snatched away.

The retrospective application of the ruling proved highly controversial, with team leader Paula Dunn – who unsuccessfully appealed the decision – arguing that the 'whole complexion of the competition' would have been different if the foul was awarded at the time. Fincham-Dukes, who saw Miltiadis Tentoglou, Thobias Montler and Jules Pommery finish ahead of him on the podium, took to social media to vent his frustration but believes he will bounce back stronger from the dramatic episode in Germany.

«Nothing else can really be said about last night,» he said on Twitter. «Briefly I was a European silver medallist but unfortunately due to an appeal I was pushed back to fifth.