By Mitch Phillips
PARIS (Reuters) – Double world champion Chase Jackson of the United States failed to qualify for the Olympic shot put final on Thursday after a miserable performance in the heats.
Jackson had two fouls and then managed only 17.60 metres with her third throw, almost two metres short of the automatic qualifying mark of 19.15, to finish 17th, with 12 advancing to Friday’s final.
It was a rotten end to an Olympics that also started badly for the 2022 and 2023 world champion after the 30-year-old posted a social media video of herself crying because her team kit did not fit.
“I do not really know what happened,” she said. “I guess the pressure got to me. I don’t really have a lot to say about it. I just want to get to my family.”
In a low-quality session, only three athletes made the automatic mark, with Sarah Mitton of Canada (19.77) leading the way ahead of Maddison-Lee Wesche of New Zealand (19.25) and Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany (19.34).
“It’s three metres further than I threw in Tokyo, and I’m just feeling really relaxed and really confident,” said Mitton, who needed only one throw.
“So happy with the one-and-done, and I’m ready to come back,” she said. “You don’t need to throw far today. You just need to throw far enough, so that was a nice, easy throw, and I think that I can really build on that.”
Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica, fifth in last year’s World Championships, also failed to progress, missing out by one place with a best of 18.12.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ken Ferris)
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