By Ronald Shillingford

Ronald Forbes stumbled towards the end of his 110 metres hurdles heat at the London Olympics on Tuesday to finish eighth and failed to go through to the semi-finals.

Forbes, 27, was the third and final Cayman Islands track and field athlete to compete. Cydonie Mothersill (women’s 200m) and Kemar Hyman (men’s 100m) were the other Cayman track athletes.

A disappointed Forbes, 27, said: “I came off the ninth hurdle and stumbled on the second step and could not push off going into the last hurdle.

“I was just forced to push it down. It was a crucial and devastating mistake but I’m not injured, nothing’s wrong. I really tried my best but under the circumstances it was a crucial mistake.”

Only the first three finishers were guaranteed going through, plus the six fastest finishers in the six heats. Forbes felt he was in fifth place and could have still qualified as one of the fastest finishers.

“Hopefully, I can race elsewhere before the track season finishes. If not, it’s back to Miami for a week or so, then come back to Cayman just to refresh my mind.

“This year hasn’t been good for me. I was injured for most of the year. When those guys were out there running, meet after meet, after meet, I only ran three races for the whole year because of multiple injuries that kept coming along.

“But I did go out there and tried my best to represent. Next year will be completely different, I can guarantee that.

“Definitely, I’m trying again for the Olympics 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.”

Did he feel any pressure because Mothersill and Hyman did not run because of injury? “No. That is what happened to them. Whatever happened to them I guess that’s their reason for not doing it.

“I don’t care if my leg is dropping off, I’m going out there to represent. I did not work this hard to see beside my name ‘did not start’.

“They did go out there and tried to represent the best they can but injury is just a part of the sport that unfortunately we have to face now and again. Unfortunately, they had to face it on the world’s greatest stage. Hopes are high and we can all look forward to revamp and prepare next year for the world championships.”