PARIS, France – Jamaica high jumper Lamara Distin has cited lack of support from the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) as the main reason for her failure to qualify for the final of the event at the Olympic Games in Paris on Friday.

In tears and disbelief, Distin was lost for words as she tried to explain her disappointment at failing to qualify for the final where she was highly favoured to win a medal in the event.

She had entered the competition as the third-best high jumper in the world this year with her national record mark of 2.00m. But it wasn’t to be for the 24-year-old, as she endured one of her worst days ever, bowing out of the qualifying round after failing to clear 1.92m after three unsuccessful attempts.

READ: #ParisOlympics: High jumper Distin fails to advance to final

Distin pointed to what she said was lack of support from the JAAA as a significant factor in her failure to qualify. She said that throughout the season, she had struggled with her technique, an issue she believed could have been mitigated if her coach had been allowed to work with her in the build-up to the championships in Paris.

“Everybody knows that I have been struggling with my approach all season. My coach was supposed to be here and he is here. But he was on the list to come and they (JAAA) took him off and so all this time I was training by myself with no coach,” Distin told the Jamaica Observer. “I feel like that was one of the main factors because there are things that we were working on, but I can’t do it by myself as it is a technical event.

“The first list of coaches that came out had him on it, but the other list that came out he wasn’t on that list did not. We tried everything we could to get a credential for him to be able to be at the warm-up track, but we were unable to,” she explained. “He just had a ticket and a pass to come to the competition venue, but I feel that wasn’t good enough for me.”

Efforts to get a comment from Jamaica team manager Ludlow Watts were unsuccessful as several calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.

Distin, known for her remarkable resilience and dedication, had entered the competition with high expectations, buoyed by a season’s best performance that ranked her among the top contenders. However, the pressure and intensity of the Olympic stage seemed to weigh heavily on her.

The vastly experienced athlete, who has been struggling all season with her run-up and rhythm, took two attempts to clear both heights at the opening 1.83m and then 1.88m. With the bar still at 1.92m after two previous failed attempts, the crowd cheered on Distin as she soared upward, but her jump fell short, and the bar tumbled down once more.

The realisation of her missed opportunity hit Distin hard as she lay on her back on the high jump bed, tears streaming down her face, her dreams of winning Jamaica’s first-ever medal in the event at the Olympic Games shattered in an instant.