Joe Harris finished 16th in the men’s javelin qualification at the Commonwealth Games in Australia on Friday morning.

With the top 12 progressing to Saturday’s final, the 20-year-old was understandably disappointed not to make the cut at Carrara Stadium - had he matched his season’s best, he would have qualified for the final.

The Manx athlete was last to throw in pool A and opened with a really encouraging 70.61m. His second throw was close to 70m, but he knew that he probably needed to find another four or five metres.

Knowing that he only had one throw to stay in the competition, Harris really went for it and, as he described it, ’over cooked his run up’ - his timing was slightly off and the throw came up short.

As such, he finished ninth in his group and was a creditable 16th overall - such was the standard that Julius Yego, a Kenyan Olympic silver medallist, finished in 13th and also missed out on the final.

STEVE PARTINGTON