With practice his performance improved, though he always denied having attempted the task before.

ECONOMIST: H.M.

His performance will have improved matters.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

In the heats, Rashid completed the race in 7mins 12.02secs to finish second behind Uzbek rower Vladimir Chernenko but he improved his performance in the final to win the bronze in a time of 7 min 04.78 sec.

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The 23-year-old, ranked second in the world, carded a level-par round of 72 on Thursday but produced a much improved performance during his second round.

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After winning the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and a first-place finish in the 2009 New York City Marathon, Meb returned to the Games and improved upon his 2004 silver medal performance time by 23 seconds.

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His view: Windows 8 plus touch plus improved performance should drive a big PC refresh cycle.

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West Ham remain rooted to the foot of the table, but Grant and his players can at least take comfort from an improved performance, and more importantly all the three points.

BBC: West Ham 3-1 Wigan

The 19-year-old, also won the Most Improved Player and Eddie Barlow Inspirational Performance for his unbeaten 96 against Gloucestershire.

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