PARIS, France — There were contrasting emotions expressed by Jamaican shot putters Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Lloydricia Cameron after the duo’s hopes of making Friday’s final were ended by the narrowest margins.

They finished 13th and 14th with marks of 18.12 and 18.02 metres, respectively, with just the top 12 to go through.

To make things worse, Thomas-Dodd, who was an Olympian at Rio in 2016 and Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), was sitting among the leading dozen until the very last throw of the competition.

Controversial United States athlete Raven Saunders, who has had several run-ins with the sport’s authorities in recent years, including a suspension for missing drugs tests, and wore a mask and sunglasses while competing, launched an 18.62m effort which helped nudge Thomas-Dodd out of the qualifiers by a mere four centimetres behind Sweden’s Axelina Johansson.

Thomas-Dodd has a heartbreaking history of near misses, having also seen her chances of defending the Commonwealth title in 2022 denied by a last-gasp effort from Canada’s Sarah Mitton, who managed just five centimetres farther.

Thomas-Dodd couldn’t hide her current frustration and blamed much of falling just short on the Jamaican authorities, whom she said had denied access for her coach to the training facilities.

Shrouding her obvious and visible disappointment with anger, she pointed out:

“It’s the second Olympics where I have finished in the 13th spot and it’s the second Olympics where I have had my coach denied permission to be here.

“I have been sitting in the village on my own for two and a half weeks, essentially practising on my own, because I was denied the privilege of having my coach getting accreditation.”

“He’s not just my coach — he’s my moral support, he’s my massage therapist…

“The things I needed today were not there for me and I needed my coach to help me get through that process but I had to do everything myself,” Thomas-Dodd said.

Cameron, 28, and at her second Games, launched a season’s best in the third and final round of the qualifying competition. She admitted to having mixed feelings.

“I believe I did great — I didn’t come out with what I wanted but I’ll definitely be back next year. This has been my best season so far and I know now what I need to work more on. It was great to do a season’s best but I’m more motivated this time. My first Olympics [Tokyo 2020] I was more nervous and went out and was a little flat and couldn’t deliver — couldn’t execute properly,” she said..

“We were all inspired by Roje’s [Stona] gold medal in the [men’s] discus and I’m happy that the world is now able to see the greatness that is coming from such a small land,” Cameron added.

Current World Indoor and Commonwealth champion Mitton topped the qualifiers with 19.77m, which sent her automatically through to the medal decider, with the major shock being the elimination of Chase Jackson (nee Ealey).

The heavily tattooed American, twice world champion and twice a Diamond League winner, suffered two ‘no throws’ before mounting a modest 17.60m final effort to end her interest in Paris 2024.