One of the Jamaican athletes, Alia Atkinson, was disqualified and forced to leave the Olympics early.
A. Atkinson Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Danusia Francis, an artistic gymnast for Jamaica, Alia Atkinson, a veteran swimmer, and Keanan Dols, a rookie swimmer, have all been eliminated from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after losing in the preliminary rounds over the course of the last two days.
Francis, the first Jamaican competitor at the postponed Games on Sunday afternoon, joined the competition at the Ariake Gymnasium Center despite having suffered a damaged anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee days earlier.
Her determination to fulfil her lifelong dream of competing at the Olympics led her to abandon three of her four routines in favour of the one she believed would be the least taxing on her wounded leg.
She stayed on the uneven bars for about 10 seconds with her severely strapped left knee before lowering herself off the apparatus with her right leg.
Despite her best efforts, she only managed to get 3.033 points (0.5 for difficulty, 6.5 for violations), but she was given the highest execution score of the day at 9.033 points.
Even though she came in last place for her shift, she ended up being the happiest person on the planet.
She told the Media,
“Now that it’s over and I’m an Olympian, I’m just so proud to say those words.” “Receiving so many messages of congratulations and support and just hearing how many people are proud of me, had honestly just filled my heart with so much joy and I just feel so loved and proud that I was able to represent Jamaica,” she added.
In spite of my disappointment at failing to complete the all-round, I know that my efforts were not wasted because they led me to the place I’ve always aspired to be. For the time being, I’m just going to revel in the fact that I’m an Olympian and ignore the naysayers.
Francis, who was a reserve gymnast for the United Kingdom in 2012, tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will need surgery and rehabilitation to fully recover. However, she is hoping to be ready for another attempt at the Commonwealth Games.
A few hours later, Atkinson surprisingly placed third in her heat of the women’s 100 metre breaststroke at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, clocking in with a time of 1 minute, 7.70 seconds.
This time put her out of the running for a spot in the semi-finals, which were reserved for the top 16.
Winner Kotryna Teterevkova (1:06.82) of Lithuania was followed closely by Ana Elenot (1:06.96) of Germany.
The 32-year-old Atkinson, a Jamaican swimming icon, placed 22nd overall, well outside the top 16, and she has strongly hinted that she would retire from international competition at the end of the year.
Because that isn’t the Current Plan,
I suggest you wait until next year to question me about it. I still have the World Cups and the ISL to play, so we’ll see how that goes, and then in December we’ll probably evaluate my current situation,” she remarked.
At the same time, Keanan Dols had a same fate on Monday night (Monday morning EST), when he swam the men’s 200-meter butterfly in a time of 2:00.25, which was third-best but not good enough to place in the top 16.
Syria’s Ayman Kelzi crossed the finish line first in 1 minute, 59.57 seconds, with Iran’s Martin Balsini coming in second in 1 minute, 59.7 seconds.
The first-time Olympian placed 34th overall, and his focus now shifts to Wednesday’s 200-meter individual medley.
