London, England — Following his disappointing exit from the shot put event, national record holder O’Dayne Richards believed his demise was because he was mentally weak.

Richards, who only last month threw a new national record of 21.96m, fouled on his first attempt, never recovered and could only manage throws of 19.84m and 19.95m. He finished 11th in his group and 19th overall.

“I think it boils down to mental toughness,” said a dejected Richards as he sauntered through the mixed zone.

“To have a bad call or to think that it’s a bad call on your first throw and then to forget about that, recover and the pressure is building up because you actually want to make the final — I was not mentally tough to battle that and become victorious,” he revealed.

“I am very disappointed. I thought it was a bad call, so I tried to adjust the technique to accommodate not fouling again. I did not do so good on the second throw and the final throw. I tried again and it was not good enough,” he explained.

In July Richards broke his own national shot put record of 21.69m with a massive throw of 21.96 metres to win the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco, and he was bubbling with confidence entering the World Championships.

Fred, as he is called because of his propensity for “flinging” stones as a youngster, fell short of the qualifying mark of 20.75m and out of the championships.

Richards, who is coached by Stephen Francis, could not hide his disappointment and the pain was etched all over his face.

“I am very disappointed. The whole season was geared towards this day and to reach this far, and after all that I have been through this year, to not make it to the final is very disappointing and daunting,” he noted.

Richards has taken Jamaica’s shot put to another level, winning a historic bronze at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, and was eighth at the Rio Olympics last year. He also won the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal.

He has struggled with injuries over the last few years and 2017 was no different. But Richards remains optimistic and is now looking towards the future.

“I don’t want to speak about them. Just know that it was a tough year and I will try to bounce back from this once more,” a dejected Richards said.

— Howard Walker