There was to be no medal repeat for New Zealand shot putter Tom Walsh at the Paris Olympics.
Walsh limped from the circle after his second throw, appearing to injure his left leg, and eventually withdrew from the men's shot put final at Stade de France on Saturday (Sunday NZ Time).
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The bronze medallist from Rio and Tokyo had a foul throw with his first attempt, which was out around 20 metres, but after getting his second shot out to only around 18m, he stepped out front of the circle and hobbled away, barely putting weight on his left leg.
Walsh attempted a third throw, which did not make it 10m as he pulled up, being forced to call it quits.
He later said it was an abductor injury and explained he had suffered it before, but that with good treatment he was hoping he would be fine for the Olympics.
“I felt good in qualifying, but in the second throw today it just blew to bits. I knew I was done for. It’s pretty disappointing, even if I knew it could happen.”
Teammate Jacko Gill finished sixth in the final, an improvement on his back-to-back ninth placings at Rio and Tokyo.
Gill threw 21.15m with his third throw to reach the final-eight for the first time in his third appearance at an Olympics, in sixth before the final three throws.
As rain began to fall and footing in the circle became difficult, Gill had a foul throw, before managing 19.23m and 20.47, remaining sixth after Italian Leonardo Fabbri had a better throw later scratched out.
Sprinter Zoe Hobbs has also bowed out of the women's 100m in the semifinals, finishing sixth in her race and a creditable 14th overall in her first Olympics.
Hobbs got away fast and was with the leaders through the first 50m, before being overtaken. She finished in 11.13 seconds, below her personal-best and slower than her heat time, but just 0.6 seconds away from qualifying for the final.
In a high-quality field, Zobbs' effort was still easily the best Olympics result by a New Zealand women's sprinter in almost 70 years.
“I just didn’t execute the race I wanted,” Hobbs said. “I let it slip through my fingers. You have to put together a perfect race, especially to make an Olympic final, and I didn’t do that.
“If it’d been a good time, I could’ve accepted it, but to run 11.13 was very disappointing.”
In the men's 1500m repechage races, Kiwi Sam Tanner could not add to New Zealand's strong Olympic middle-distance history.
Needing to finish in the top-three, Tanner went out fast and settle into second early. He dropped to third in the second lap and was pushed back to the back by the end of the third lap, eventually finishing a distant 13th.
His time of 3 minutes 40 seconds was well behind his personal-best and best times of the season.
Tanner said missing two key months of training meant he was well behind in his preparation.
“I’m very disappointed with that performance, but I know I did everything I could. It’s just the circumstances make it so frustrating.”
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