Filimone pulls hamstring after 10.76s 100m sprint [1]
Monday, August 15, 2016 - 10:30. Updated on Monday, August 15, 2016 - 10:36.
A pulled hamstring stopped Tonga’s 100m sprinter Siueni Filimone (21) from starting in the Round 1 Heats of the Men’s 100m Heats in Rio 2016 Olympics on Sunday, after he achieved his season’s best time of 10.76 seconds in the prelims.
His time is a great achievement considering that the women’s gold medal time was 10.71s.
Only two men in Filimone’s preliminary round heat finished under 11 seconds, automatically qualifying to run with the elite men’s sprinters in the Round 1 Heats at Rio 2016. However, after crossing the line in his 10.76s qualifier Filimone went down with a pulled hamstring.
The injury is a disappointment to the Tongan runner who lost his chance to run against some of the world’s top sprinters.
His coach Tevita Fauonuku, reported that this is the first time ever that a Tongan sprinter has progressed to the Round 1 Heats in Men’s 100m at the Olympics.
The line up for the missed Heat 5 was: