Canada's Sarah Mitton, a gold-medal favourite, fouls out of women's shot put
Brooklyn, N.S., native qualified 1st in qualification round
Sarah Mitton stuck around to watch the final three attempts of her competition to see what she could learn for next time.
She saw a fearlessness from others that she felt she may not yet have.
The 28-year-old from Brooklyn, N.S., failed to crack the top eight in her first three attempts and therefore fell out of medal contention. Mitton entered Friday's Olympic final at Stade de France as the top qualifier, and the reigning world silver medallist and world indoor champion.
But she only threw 17.15 and 17.48 metres before just falling out of the circle to end up with a fault on her third and final attempt. Mitton's qualifying throw was 19.77 and her personal best is 20.68, set in May.
"Staying and watching the last three throws for me was really crucial as like a learning curve," Mitton said. "Watching those girls thrive under those conditions you can kind of see what they have that you're missing and what you could maybe take home and put in your tool box for the next time."
"At the Olympics, you gotta go for it," she added. "You're here, everyone's ready to throw far and I think I was still a little too hesitant with the rain and despite my brain saying, 'Go for it,' my body still - I was like scared of falling."
Mitton was looking to be Canada's first-ever Olympic medallist in the women's shot put after becoming the first to medal at a world championships in the event in 2023.
Germany's Yemisi Ogunleye took gold (20.00), with New Zealand's Maddison-Lee Wesche (19.86) and China's Song Jiayuan (19.32) earning silver and bronze, respectively.
Mitton came in as the favourite, especially with Jackson out, and was confident she could win. Mitton said by the third round the circle was dry but the ring can be "slick" when it's between a "wet and dry stage."
"That obviously wasn't what I came to do," Mitton said. "I went in with the world at my fingertips and I let it slip through the cracks. ... I swung a little too easy in the first round. Mentally I felt very confident and controlled.
"Even with my coach, we said, 'It's close, it feels good, it's just something's not clicking.' And then on the third round, kind of was able to regain that feeling and regain that control and just ended up falling out of the circle, sadly. I almost saved it. Almost only counts in horseshoes, not in shot put.
"It hurts because I knew it was very much within my wheelhouse and I wanted to win a medal for Canada and for myself."
