Leaping lawyer Rick Yates of north-west firm Farleys competed for England in the final of the mens’ 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow’s Hampden Park last week.

The English champion did not quite match his bronze-medal winning finish achieved in the 4x400m relay in Delhi 2010.

Running in the seventh lane after a last-minute lane swap Yates finished seventh in a time of 50.13 seconds, slower than his qualifying 49.80 seconds.

Gold went to South Africa’s Cornel Fredericks, who had led the rankings ahead of the final. He clocked 48.50 seconds ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Jehue Gordon who bagged silver in a time of 48.75. Bahamian Jeffery Gibson took bronze with 48.78.

Yate’s England team mate Niall Flannery finished just outside the medals in fourth place.

After the final, Yates tweeted: ‘Pretty disappointed with that. Legs were a bit tired from yesterday.’

He remains the only solicitor Obiter has heard of to take part in a Commonwealth Games final this year, so hats off to him.

Topics