Emotional Kyle Blignaut gutted by his Olympic Games elimination

Despite reaching the finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Blignaut’s throw of 20.78 metres fell short of the top-12 qualification.

He had hoped to make it to the final in honour of his late coach, Pierre Blignaut, but unfortunately, he failed. Overcame with emotion, he broke down in tears during his interview with SABC Sport.

Blignaut was determined to advance but struggled to surpass the 21-metre mark. 

"I missed out barely, barely, barely, I was in up until five minutes to go in the competition. I was in the top 12 and it's difficult when that happens. My own training partner was in the 13th position and he was the guy that went in and pushed me to 13,” Blignaut said.

“It's a bitter sweet pill to swallow, one of my training partners made it through but I was pushed out to number 13. I'm grateful, physically I feel good, I feel like if I made the final and we had the privilege to compete, I would have done something special tomorrow night."

READ: Prudence Sekgodiso plays down her Olympic Games medal prospects

Earlier this year, Blignaut moved to Italy to join a new team.

The transition was overwhelming, as he lost his coach in the process, he became emotional and cried when he talked about his former coach.

"I miss him a lot when I experience new things, I would like to share it with him and I wanted to compete tonight for him. So, it was difficult going out, I said I wanna make the final again for him and I wanna do well for him but that wasn't meant to be but the next one, I will do it for him," he added.