The Philippines’ Kristina Marie Knott, celebrates with her national flag after winning in the women’s 200m final during the athletics competition at the 30th Southeast Asian Games at Athletics Stadium in New Clark City, Tarlac province, Northern Philippines on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
MANILA, Philippines — Kristina Knott’s first Olympic Games ended in disappointment after she missed out on the semifinals of the women’s 200-meter at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo Monday.
Needing to get into the top three of Heat 7, Knott finished fifth with a time of 23.80 seconds with American Jenna Prandini topping her group at 22.56 seconds.
When all the race results were collated, Knott finished 37th out of 41 runners with 24 athletes advancing to the semifinals.
Coach Roshaan Griffin said Knott’s performance wasn’t what they expected and it fell way behind their desired result.
Nevertheless, it was only Knott’s debut on the world stage.
“This is her first Olympic Games. She could have been battling a lot of things. It could have been the extreme heat. It could have been nerves. I’m not trying to pinpoint an excuse or give a set of answers. It was an awful performance. It wasn’t what we expected. But people need to realize this is the world stage,” said Griffin.
While Knott was disappointed in her failure to make the semifinals, a bigger problem occurred after she started vomiting when she crossed the finish line and was immediately rushed to the stadium’s medical station.
Edward Kho, Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association Marketing and Communications Director, said Knott suffered from heat exhaustion and was already feeling under the weather even before the race started.
“She suffered from heat exhaustion,” said Kho. “She stayed at the medical station after the race for about an hour where she was rehydrated. She felt ill even before the gun start. After crossing the finish line, she was vomiting and was dazed. Thanks for the prayers of support. She is resting in her room now.”