Heathcote’s Ella Nelson has agonisingly missed out on the final of the women’s 200 metres in Rio after finishing third in her semi-final on Wednesday morning (AEST).
The 22-year-old ran a stunning personal best time of 22.50 seconds in semi-final number two to finish ninth overall.
The top two in each of the three semi-finals gained automatic qualification for the final, with the remaining two places given to the two next best times.
Nelson finished one one-hundredth of a second behind Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith who took the final non-automatic qualifying birth.
Nelson, running from lane seven in her semi, stormed passed American Jenna Prandini to finish third behind Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou (22.28) and Bulgaria’s Ivet Lalova-Collio (22.42).
“I’m lost for words right now. I’ve just run a PB at the Olympic games,” Nelson said.
“That was incredible. That was so much fun. I felt awesome.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better 2016.
“I hate that it’s one one-hundredth [outside of qualifying for the final] but I am so happy.
“I just can’t believe it, I honestly can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”
Nelson had stormed into the semis on Monday night to make an impressive Olympic debut, finishing in a time of 22.66 to automatically qualify for the semis.
It was an incredible effort from Nelson, who hadn’t raced since April due to suffering a torn hamstring.
The former Heathcote primary and high school student is already looking to the future after her dream Olympic debut.
“Absolutely, [I’m] not satisfied. [I’m] stoked for now but next year London World Champs and then of course the home Commonwealth Games,” she said.
“This has just given me the confidence to know I can do this on the world stage. I couldn’t be happier.
“Thank you to everyone at home, I’m just so happy.”
