Kenyan swimmer Maria Brunlehner finished third in her heat during the Paris Olympics on Saturday but missed out on a place in the semi-final.
Brunlehner took part in the women’s 50m freestyle event where she clocked 25.82 seconds for third place in the seventh heat behind Jenjira Srisa-Ard of Thailand who and Anick Delgado of Ecuador who managed 25.18 and 25.43 for first and second positions respectively.
The Kenyan needed to be among the 16 fastest swimmers to make it to the semi-final but with 27 other swimmers with a better time that her, it is the end of the road for her.
Brunlehner qualified for the Olympics through the university spots and had expressed a desire to perform well at her first appearance at the games.
“I just want to do my best and see myself as a competitor, not compare myself with other swimmers,” the 24-year-old, who is a student at the Grand Canyon University in the United States of America. “I’d like to hopefully get a best time and break the Kenyan record.”
Brunlehner clocked a national-best time of 26.12 seconds at the Doha World Championships in February to earn her place at the Olympics and bettered her time in Paris.