ONE and done.
This was the fate that befell Kristina Knott, who clocked 23.80 seconds yesterday in the seventh and last heat and exited early in the women’s 200-meter run of the Tokyo Olympic Games athletic competitions at the Japan National Stadium.
Knott finished dead last in a field of five runners in her heat won by two-time US 100-meter champion Jenna Pradini in 22.56 seconds. Gambia’s Gina Bass (22.74) and Riley Day of Australia (22.94) finished second and third, respectively, to also advance to the semifinals scheduled in the afternoon.
The Tokyo heat got the better of Knott, 25, who was rushed to the Medical Station immediately after crossing the finish line, vomiting and nauseated due to heat stress coming from extended exposure to the summer heat here.
“She suffered heat exhaustion. Nag-stay muna after the race sa medical station sa stadium for about an hour. Rehydrated. She felt ill even before the start. After crossing the finish line, she was vomiting and dazed,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association marketing and communications director Edward Kho.
“This is her first Olympic Games. She could have been battling a lot of things. It could have been the extreme heat. It could have been nerves. I’m not trying to pinpoint an excuseor give a set of answers. It was an awful performance. It wasn’t what we expected. But people need to realize this is the world stage,” said Knott’s coach, Roshaan Griffin.
Namibian teener Christine Mboma led the way to the semis, setting a new world under-20 record of 22.11 seconds, American Gabrielle Thomas had the second best qualifying time of 22.20, followed by Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (22.22).
In her fleeting Olympic debut, Knott finished 37th overall among the 41 entries in the heatsand emerged as the second-best runner from Asia behind No. 36 Olga Safronova, who clocked 23.64 seconds.
She may rue the fact that tying her national record of 23.01 seconds set in ruling the event in the 30th Southeast Asian Games two years ago at the New Clark City Athletic in Capas, Tarlac would have been enough to make it to the semifinal round.
