Disappointing morning for Jamaica on day one of track and field in Rio

File Photo: Fedrick Dacres struggled with the wet and slippery conditions in the Men’s Discus in Rio on Friday and failed to advance to the final round.

Amidst high hopes and huge expectations, Fedrick Dacres and Danniel Thomas led the charge for Jamaica on the first morning of track and field at the Rio Olympic Games on Friday, but both athletes failed to progress beyond the first round in their respective events in cold and murky conditions.

The rain began just before the start of competition making the throwers circle wet and slippery. Dacres fouled on his first two throws in the Men’s Discus, going over the front of the circle, before obtaining a mark on his final effort. With the pressure of getting a mark and needing a good throw off just a single effort, the 22 year old pulled hard but the discus wobbled out of his hand and he was only able to get 50.69m, way below the qualifying standard of 65.50m.

Thomas had a better sequence than Dacres, getting in all three efforts in the Women’s Shot Put but her marks were way below her personal best of 17.76. On her first effort, the 23 year old got 16.70m, which was followed by 16.43m before getting her best mark of 16.99m on her final effort.

Dacres finished last of the 17 competitors in Group A of the Men’s discus qualifying while Thomas finished 25^th out of 36 women in shot put qualifying.