Sophie Hitchon has vowed to bounce back after finishing a disappointing seventh in the women’s hammer final.
The cheers of Rio de Janeiro where she won bronze were last night replaced by tears, Hitchon crying within the hammer cage from the moment she realised her final throw was not enough for a medal, a best of 72.32metres putting her in seventh place.
“I’m definitely capable of more and my coach certainly thinks so,” she said. “If he thinks so then I’m up for it.”
The frustration for the 26-year-old was that she had thrown further with one attempt in qualifying — 73.05m — and was some way short of the national record of 74.54m that she set on her way to her first major championship medal last summer.
“Some athletes are better at hiding [their disappointment] but I’m not going to hide it as I’m really disappointed,” she said.
Hitchon would need to have broken her own national record to force her way into the medals.
“I think I showed in qualification I was definitely in better shape but I couldn’t quite find the rhythm from the beginning,” she said.
“The crowd was amazing but I’m sorry I couldn’t produce something better.”
