OLYMPIC long jump champion Greg Rutherford might have crashed out in qualifying at the World Championships, but Chris O'Hare helped raise British spirits on day five as he marked his global debut in style.

Rutherford was left with egg on his face as, despite being proved fit enough for selection over fellow Brit Chris Tomlinson after a hamstring injury, he missed out on the long jump final, finishing 14th in qualifying with a best leap of 7.87m.

That was well down on the 8.31m he jumped for Olympic gold on that storied Super Saturday at London 2012 however, after an agonising wait, O'Hare was able to toast a job well done on his world bow having finished eighth in his 1500m heat.

Although the first five finishers in each of the three heats qualified automatically for tomorrow's semi-finals, O'Hare's time of 3:38.36min was good enough to see him through as one of the fastest losers.

O'Hare, who lives and trains in America at the University of Tulsa, arrived as the British champion and hit the front early on in his heat in the Luzhniki Stadium, the sight of Lord Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett's famous duel at the 1980 Olympics.

But O'Hare, from Edinburgh, faded badly on the home straight, dropping from second place to eighth, and admitted afterwards that he had given everything in a bid to make his first world semi-final.

"I knew coming in that I was going to have to push it hard," said O'Hare. "I was trying to win like it was a gold medal. I did not have as much as I would have hoped in the last 100m but these guys are the best in the world. I will take something home from that and try and save a bit more for the last 100m. I had not watched the other heats all that attentively, I just went into my race knowing that I was going to have to run with a lot of heart and a lot of guts and that's what I did. This stadium is steeped in history and it's an honour to be part of that."

As for Rutherford, his early exit did little to quash the debate surrounding his initial selection, which came at the expense of injury-free and proven World Championship performer Tomlinson.

His hamstring injury combined with a lack of an A qualifying standard jump meant Rutherford faced competition from Tomlinson, also without a leap good enough, as to who would be given the nod.

Both were given two weeks after the formal team announcement with Rutherford the lucky one of the two as he was deemed to have proved his fitness - and he still believes the selectors made the right choice.

"For both Chris and I there was a standard set and we should have jumped it," he said. "We are both good enough to jump 8.25m and we didn't do that this year.

"I felt for Chris and it would have been great to have us both at the worlds but it has nothing to do with me if Chris makes it or doesn't, I just have to do what I have to do to make the championships. Ultimately I am still British No.1 as it stands, I have jumped further than him multiple times this year and I have beaten him nearly every time apart from when I got hurt.

"I think in any event if you are looking at somebody who has the better distance that year, won more head-to-heads and has a major title behind them, it is a no brainer as to who should get selected."

Meanwhile, today marks a special occasion for O'Hare's fellow Scot Eilidh Child as she takes to the track in her first global final in the 400m hurdles.

The 26-year-old has broken her own Scottish record twice this season already and heads into the final with a genuine chance of picking up a medal.

Only three of the other seven girls in the final have run faster than her 54.22sec record this year - however one of those is fellow Brit and contender for the gold medal, Perri Shakes-Drayton.

The National Lottery supports sport and many other life-changing projects in your community

www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk