Germaine Mason secured Britain’s first athletics medal of the Beijing Olympics with silver in the men’s high jump.

Mason equalled his personal best with a clearance of 2.34 metres to finish second behind Russia’s Andrey Silnov, who secured gold with a first-time clearance of 2.36m. Yaroslav Rybakov, of Russia, matched Mason’s clearance of 2.34m but took bronze on a countback due to his two failures at 2.32m.

Mason, who won three World Championship medals representing Jamaica but switched nationalities in 2006, had one failure at 2.29m and then opted to pass on that height, moving up to clear 2.32m and 2.34m with his first attempts.

That put the 25-year-old, who trains in Birmingham, in gold medal position until Silnov cleared 2.34m and 22.36m at his first attempts to maintain his flawless record in the competition.

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Mason then failed with his three attempts at 2.36m but rightly celebrated Britain’s first high jump medal since Steve Smith won bronze in Atlanta in 1996. Silnov put the bar up to 2.42m but was unsuccessful in an attempt to set a new Olympic record.

“It’s good when it comes as a surprise," Mason said. "I’ve been waiting to equal my personal best for five years, and I finally did it when it counts. It feels good, it feels like I’m Superman.”

“I’m very proud to be the first athletics medallist of the Games from Great Britain. It took confidence, determination and a lot of concentration, and having a lot of fun. I was confident and focused on my technique, I knew if I got that right, I’d get some good jumps. I wasn’t thinking about medals or places.”