Sahana Kumari crashed out in the qualifying round of the women’s high jump, unable to come anywhere near her best performance at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday.
Sahana, who had set a national record of 1.92 metres to make it to London, managed only 1.80 and was ranked 29th overall. She needed to clear 1.96 or finish in the top-12 to make it through to the final.
Only Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil managed to clear 1.96 on a hot morning while 11 others made it after going past 1.93 metres.
Sahana, the second Indian woman high jumper to compete at the Olympics after Bobby Aloysius, needed to improve her career-best to get into the elite list. But it was a struggle for the 30-year-old.
She passed the opening height of 1.75 metres and cleared 1.80 in her first attempt itself. But at 1.85, she missed all the three times, brushing the bar with her leg on the way down in the final try.
Behind Radzivil, world champion Anna Chicherova of Russia made it through after clearing 1.93. Defending champion Tia Hellebaut of Belgium, who is making a comeback after calling it quits, also qualified while Germany’s Ariane Fridrich missed out on a countback despite clearing 1.93.