Kiwi high jumper Hamish Kerr has dragged himself back from the Olympic abyss to keep his Paris medal hopes alive through qualifying at Stade de France.
The world indoor champion entered the event as one of the favourites, off the back of outstanding Diamond League form this season, and duly advanced to the final with a clearance of 2.27m, one of only five to achieve that height.
His progress did not come without some desperation, as he failed two tries at 2.20m, clearly struggling with his runup, and needed a nervy final attempt to keep his hopes alive. After a second-time clearance at 2.24m, he soared over the next height to put his worries behind — or below — him.
The Kiwi led the field into the high jump final (Source: SKY)
"I've faced a few of those jumps in my life and not all of them have pulled off, so I had to dig pretty deep for that one," said Kerr. "I'm so grateful I've had my coach and team around me that knew what I needed to do and gave me the belief I could do it.
"At the same time, if you can get a third attempt like that, you can get any third attempt and that's what I take away from it.
"It was touch and go for a bit, but now we're back on the positives."
Kerr admitted: "I was trying not to cry to be honest... it was pretty scary, I was sh*tting myself.
"At this level, it's the top two inches that count. The body is in the best shape it's ever been."
Hamish Kerr competes in Olympic high jump qualifying. (Source: Associated Press)
To fill the 12-man final, officials had to employ a countback of clearances at 2.24m, but Kerr's misses at 2.20 would likely have seen him fall short, without his final success.
Among those sneaking through was Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, who shared the Tokyo 2020 gold in a tie with Qatar's Mutaz Barshim.
Three-time world champion Barshim joined Kerr over 2.27m, but left the arena nursing an apparent injury. American Shelby McEwen, Korean Sanghjeok Woo and Japanese Ryoichi Akamatsu were also over that height.
Not as lucky were Kiwi javelin thrower Tori Peeters and 800m runner James Preston, who both struggled at this level.
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Peeters tossed 59.78m to place eighth in her qualifying group, but watched 11 throwers exceed that in the second group to force her out of the final.
Preston finished eighth in his heat, four seconds outside his national record, and now faces repechage to reach the semifinals.
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