Canada's Sarah Mitton falls short of first Olympic medal in women's shot put

PARIS — 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.

The shot put had been an interesting event, with and without the rain Friday. One competitor dropped the shot put, reigning two-time world champion Chase Jackson of the United States didn't even qualify for the final and some opted to glide instead of spin on some of their throws.

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."

In the opener of the evening session, Canada's women's 4x100-metre relay team finished sixth in their final.

Sade McCreath, Jacqueline Madogo, Marie-Eloise Leclair and Audrey Leduc ran a time of 42.69 seconds. It was Canada's first time making a women's 4x100 relay final since the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"I think we're growing as a team, we're all really young," Madogo said. "This is all of our first Olympics and I think the girls were building a great chemistry and great friendship on and off the track. This is not the last time you'll see the women's 4x100 in a major final.

"Until next time, we're definitely gonna put Canada on the map on the women's side."

The United States snatched gold (41.78), while Britain took silver (41.85) and Germany grabbed bronze (41.97). Canada moved up a spot when the Swiss team that originally finished sixth was disqualified.

The Canadians set a national record of 42.50 seconds a day earlier in qualifying. They finished fourth in Heat 2 to take one of two non-automatic qualifying spots.

Canada last medalled in the event at the 1984 Los Angeles Games with the team of Angela Bailey, Angella Issajenko, France Gareau and Marita Payne.

Earlier in the day, Marco Arop qualified for Saturday's men's 800 final.

The 25-year-old from Edmonton ran a time of one minute 45.05 seconds to finish first in the second of three semifinal heats on Friday at Stade de France.

Arop is the reigning world champion in the event and also won bronze at the 2022 world championships. He looks to win Canada's first Olympic medal in the event since Bill Crothers earned silver at the 1964 Tokyo Games.

Canada's women's 4x400 relay team also qualified for Saturday's final. The team of Zoe Sherar, Aiyanna Stiverne, Lauren Gale and Kyra Constantine finished fourth in Heat 2 with a time of 3:25.77 to grab one of two non-automatic qualifying spots on Friday.

Canada finished fourth at last year's world championships in the event and took bronze at World Relays in May while qualifying for the Paris Games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2024.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press