SOPHIE HITCHON broke down in tears as she failed in her bid to secure a World Championship medal when she could only finish seventh in the hammer final.
Hitchon was one of Britain’s big hopes to podium coming into the competition after she secured bronze at the Rio Olympics last year.
Having qualified in third place for the final, the 26-year-old had been confident of challenging for a medal in front of a packed home crowd.
But the former world junior champion was unable to find her best form when it mattered most, throwing consistently just over 70 metres but never enough to seriously threaten the top three spots.
Hitchon knew as she stepped into the cage for her final throw that she needed a personal best throw to even snatch a bronze, but despite producing her best effort of 72.32 metres it was not enough to see her finish better than seventh.
Hitchon, 26, who put her hand over her mouth in horror and then burst into tears as she knelt on the ground, said: “It’s emotional. I think there was more there.
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t produce something better. I felt I was capable of bronze here too.”
The former dancer who switched to athletics at the age of 14 after giving up her dream of becoming a ballerina, said: “Yes, I feel the pressure of being an Olympic bronze medallist but no one puts more pressure on me than myself to produce my best and I didn’t do that.
“I’m beating myself up, of course I am. That’s part of my personality. Some athletes are better at hiding it but yeah I’m really disappointed.
“Ultimately you want to be better and better. I always want to do really well in any competition I do and usually I always perform better at Championships.
“But it is sport, that’s why we compete and they did better than me today.”
Poland’s defending word champion Anita Wlodarczyk proved a class apart from the rest of the field with a throw of 77.90m to take the gold medal.
Zheng Wang of China led after the first three throws, but had to settle for silver with a best of 75.98m, and Poland also took a bronze after Malwina Kopron reached 74.76m
Leave a comment