Jess Mayho falls short of final after struggling in Munich heat

Jess Mayho admits technical shortcomings on Munich’s boiling big stage scuppered her chances of reaching the multi-sport European Championships final.

The Birchfield Harriers hammer thrower finished 11th in her group on Tuesday morning as her effort of 63.90m left her well off the pace of table-topper Bianca Florentina Ghelber.

The Romanian, 32, racked up a distance of 71.27m as Turk Kivilcim Salman’s attempt of 67.68m proved enough to fire her into the final in fourth.

Mayho admits she struggled on a red-hot day in Germany and an inability to hold it together proved fatal.

The 29-year-old said: “It’s hard out there

“I felt like my warm-ups were okay, but I'm not really feeling 100 per cent today.

“I just got into the mindset of ‘it’s too warm and it's just three throws.’

“The first throw I landed on my knees and just couldn’t find my technical groove beyond that into rounds two and three.”

Mayho is a two-time national champion but went down against Charlotte Payne at this year’s event in Manchester.

The West Midlands star’s effort of 65.73m propelled her to silver but Payne, who failed to progress in the other qualifying group in Munich, grabbed gold with a throw of 70.59m.

Mayho’s personal best came at Hull’s Costello Stadium last summer where she launched the hammer 69.44m to lay down a statement of intent ahead of this season.

But she was unable to emulate those exploits in Munich as she ended up 5.54m shy of that distance in front of a bumper Olympic Stadium crowd.

“I’m gutted because 67m made the final and I know I'm capable of that,” she added.

“But it shows that anything can happen at a championships - it’s wide open and unfortunately today was just one of those days.”

The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website