These Olympics have been a Jamaican love-in and so it was apposite that Great Britain's first athletics medal came from a man who lives in the Kingston of Bob Marley rather than the Thames.

Indeed, one of the first people to celebrate with Germaine Mason after he won a surprise silver medal in the high jump was Usain Bolt, the undisputed track star of these Games. The pair competed for Jamaica at the World Junior Championships in Kingston in 2002 before Mason switched allegiance four years later, sparking “a national outcry” in his homeland according to one local journalist mourning the one who got away. “It doesn't really matter who he competes for,” Bolt said. “He's my friend.”

He was a friend in high places yesterday as he equalled his personal best of 2.34 metres to finish runner-up to Andrey Silnov, of Russia. Before Steve Smith in 1996, you have to go back to 1908 to find another British medal in the event.

Mason's story is an intriguing one. Last year he was kicked off the National Lottery programme after performing badly. He went back to Kingston to train with Stephen Francis, the coach of Asafa Powell, and the rest is mystery as a rank outsider clinched a medal for the country that failed to back him. “That is one of the things that motivated me,” he said. “Track and field is not a sport that pays a lot, but I made ends meet.”

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With a British father who lives in Jamaica and a Jamaican mother who lives in London, Mason's history is a colourful one. He was still competing for Jamaica in 2004 but ruptured his patella tendon, missed the Athens Olympics and then fell out with Francis, who claimed that Mason was demanding too much of his time. He moved to America to be coached by Sue Humphrey, before ending up in Birmingham, where, having sat out two years to meet British eligibility rules, he received his training schedules via e-mail from Texas.

The idea of competing for Britain had been born in 2000 when he turned up in Chile to compete for Jamaica, but had brought only his British passport. “I thought, why not just let me compete for Britain,” he said. The problem was solved, but the idea began to ferment in Mason's mind.

“I feel very British,” he said in his thick Jamaican accent yesterday. “Britain is my home and that is where it is going to be for ever.”

That said, he added that he lives in Jamaica for most of the year. Confused? So will UK Athletics be as it considers how Mason won a medal and Sarah Claxton made the 100 metres hurdles final despite being bereft of lottery backing.

Mason's Britishness was certainly evident when asked how he felt. “I am super-duper,” he said, stopping short of slipping into a green smoking jacket and asking for a cup of tea on the lawn. Bolt slapped his old friend and team-mate on the back after finishing his latest star turn. He ran his 200 metres semi-final with staggering restraint and still recorded 20.09sec. Christian Malcolm, of Britain, also made today's final and Martyn Rooney ran a personal best of 44.60sec in his 400 metres semi-final to suggest that he may be ready for a spot of feather-ruffling in tomorrow's final.

The bad news of a great night for Britain was the 1,500 metres, in which Andy Baddeley, having looked good all year, fell to earth at just the wrong time. He was in a good position at the bell, but drifted backwards and his kick finish was found wanting. “I'm disappointed to finish so far down the field,” Baddeley, who was ninth, said. “But this is motivation for me and I'll go away, work hard and come back fitter and stronger. Some pretty bad spiking halfway round hurt me a bit.” Rashid Ramzi, of Bahrain, won gold.

The cruellest moment of the night came in the 100 metres hurdles, where Lolo Jones looked set to be crowned Olympic champion. The American, who attended eight schools in eight years as her mother was forced to move because of unpaid bills, once lived in the basement of a church. She led into the penultimate hurdle but clipped it and finished seventh, allowing Dawn Harper, her compatriot, to take gold.