Om Prakash, Mayookha disappoint

India's athletics campaign began on a disappointing note, with shot putter Om Prakash Karhana and triple jumper Mayookha Johny failing to advance to the final round after finishing 19th and 22nd, respectively in the qualifiers at the London Olympics on Friday.

Both Om Prakash and Mayookha failed to rise to the occasion as they came up with below-par performances, much below their personal best, on the first day of the blue riband event.

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Om Prakash, who trained for nearly two years at Szombathely in Hungary in the build-up to the Olympics, hurled the 7.26 kg iron ball to a distance 19.86m, which placed him 10th in Group B and 19th overall.

His personal best is the national record of 20.69m, which he recorded in May at his training base. Had he been even near his personal best, he would have easily gone through, as the 12th and last final round qualifier threw a distance of 20.25m.

Those who crossed the qualifying distance of 20.65m or the best 12 made it to the final round.

The 25-year-old Indian cleared 19.40m in his opening attempt and 19.86m in his second. He committed a foul in his third.

American Reese Hoffa, who finished fifth in the World Championships in South Korea last year, led the qualifiers with an impressive throw of 21.36m, ahead of reigning World champion David Storl (21.15m) of Germany and 2008 Olympics gold winner Tomasz Majewski (21.03m) of Poland.

Beijing silver medallist Christian Cantwell of the United States qualified in the final round at ninth with 20.41m.

In women's triple jump, those who cleared the qualifying distance of 14.40m or the 12 best were to make the final round and it was always going to be difficult for Mayookha to make the grade.

She has a personal best of 14.11m, which she recorded in the Asian Championships in Japan last year, though she has not touched the 14m mark since then.

She leapt 13.95m in a minor competition in Germany just before the Olympics.

Mayookha cleared 13.77m in her first attempt and then fizzled out with 13.68m and 13.62m in her next two attempts to finish 13th in Group B and 22nd overall.

Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan, who was second in the World Championships in South Korea last year, led the qualification round with a jump of 14.79m ahead of Kimberly Williams (14.53m) of Jamaica and world indoor champion Aldama Yamile (14.45m) of Great Britain.

Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images