IN HER maiden Olympic stint, the Philippines’ Kristina Knott crossed the line at 23.80 seconds; finishing fifth in Heat 7 of the Women’s 200m sprint earlier today at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

World no. 13 Jenna Prandini of the United States finished first in the said heat as she clocked in at 22.56 seconds. She was then followed by Gambia’s Gina Bass with her time of 22.74 seconds, while Australia’s Riley Day came in third at 22.94 seconds.

Knott had a strong start to the race as she had the fastest reaction time out of all her competitors. Despite this, Prandini, Bass, and Day quickly made up for their slower starts and began separating themselves from the other sprinters.

Going into the curve, Knott was running in fourth, which kept her in contention to steal the final spot of qualification in the heat. However, she was unable to slingshot herself into the straight, failing to catch up to the top three and ultimately finishing in fifth.

With this, Knott narrowly missed out on qualification for this afternoon’s semifinals. Qualifications for the semifinals were restricted to the top three fastest runners in each heat and the next three fastest runners overall.