British female sprinter clatters chest-first into hurdles in scary Paris Olympics incident
Cindy Sember clipped the top of one hurdle before crashing into the next
BBC
British athlete Cindy Sember crashed out of the women's 100m hurdles semi-finals after clipping one obstacle and flying chest-first into the next.
The American-born sprinter comfortably qualified for the semi-finals with a time of 12.72 with only nine runners producing quicker times in the opening round on Wednesday.
She was placed in the third semi-final on Friday along with Olympic record holder Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Masai Russell and Ackera Nugent.
Simber was up against it to qualify for the final and she was out of the race completely after clipped the top of the seventh hurdle.
Cindy Sember clipped the top of one hurdle before crashing into the next
BBC
That saw Simber lose her footing before clattering into the eighth barrier and falling to the ground.
The former European Indoor Championships silver medallist punched the track in frustration as her Olympics came to a crushing end.
Colin Jackson, who won 110m hurdles silver at the 1988 Olympics, noted that Sember ultimately was made to pay for a "tiny mistake".
"Unfortunate for Cindy," he said.
"She caught up with one of the barriers earlier and because you're moving so quick, you make one tiny mistake and what happened to Cindy is she dropped her trail foot.
"No room for error, no room for any movement and you literally hit the deck."
Sember would have needed to run close to her personal best time to have made it to the final of the 100m hurdles.
France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela was the last runner to qualify from the heat in fourth with a fast time of 12.52.
Cindy Sember hit the floor in frustration
BBC
Sember's personal best time in the event was 12.38 back in 2022, but it was a wind-assisted record.
The 30-year-old was competing in her third Olympics having agonisingly missed out on a medal at Rio 2016.
She finished just 0.02 seconds behind Kristi Castlin in the bronze medal position in a time of 12.63.
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Cindy Sember was competing in her third Olympics
REUTERS
Sember failed to match her performance in Tokyo after finishing seventh in her semi-final heat.
Great Britain will have more chanes for athletics medals before the Olympics end though with Katarina Johnson-Thompson in gold-medal contention in the heptathlon.
Amber Anning will be in with an outside chance of a medal in the women's 400m final as well as both British quartets in the men's and women's 4x100m relay finals.
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