Injury costs Williams medal in Munich

By Will Jennings in Munich Ben Williams believes ill-timed injury woes hampered his hopes of a medal at the European Championships. Ad But the Stoke star says being the continent's sixth-best triple jumper 'on one leg' can be a platform for progression next season. AthleticsBen Pattison hopes a fast finish will fire him onto the podium in Munich6 MINUTES AGO Williams, 30, finished 0.28m shy of a medal in Wednesday night's final in Munich as Portuguese powerhouse Pedro Pichardo grabbed a brilliant gold medal.

Troubles with his run-up contributed to Williams' 'frustrating' eighth-place finish at the Commonwealth Games before a knee issue struck at the worst possible time in Germany. Williams believes he could have won a medal if everything had clicked and thinks the result was an unfair representation of where his form is at. «It was an uphill battle,» he said.

«Round one, I hurt my knee and it was agony from then on. »It's frustrating because Commonwealth Games, I couldn't get my run right and my knee was perfectly fine. «Today, the run was fine but the knee wasn't playing ball.

»16.66m, sixth in Europe, on one leg isn't so bad, but 16.94m for a medal I'd snatch at that chance. «I'm in much better shape than my distance suggests. »It's been super bad since the World Championships.

«There has been a lot of fluid in my patella tendon, a potential tear and it was agony walking downstairs. »I just couldn't work through that right knee, which is unfortunate." Williams finished 15th in qualifying at last month's World Championships in Oregon before representing Team England at the Commonwealth Games. He finished the highest of any European athlete in Birmingham as a jump of 16.03m earned him an eighth-place finish.