Battling a serious shoulder injury, Kim Mickle was unable to find the "miracle" throw needed to advance from the qualifying round at the World Athletics Championships.
Mickle dislocated her throwing shoulder in a German gym last month and was later diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and ligament damage.
She kept the nature of the injury a secret and was determined not to withdraw from the competition in Beijing.
But she knew during the warm-up on Friday evening that she was in big trouble.
"My arm was no good but I thought `have a go'," said Mickle, the 2013 world championships silver medallist.
"I bashed it and it is pretty sore now - I'm pretty sure I've done something.
It would have been a miracle to get a throw out but then I reckon I would have had to pull out anyway."
Mickle had two fouls and one mediocre throw of 59.83m.
It capped a disastrous outing for Australia as countrywomen Kathryn Mitchell (61.04m) and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Roberts (60.18m) were also eliminated in qualifying.
Germany's Christin Hussong was the leading qualifier with 65.92m.
In the absence of the injured Sally Pearson, the 30-year-old Mickle came into the 2015 world titles as Australia's best medal hope.
But only if she was fully fit.
"I hate it when people dwell on things pretty badly," said Mickle.
"I wanted people to know that I had a bad shoulder - but not as bad as it was.
"I just wanted to have a go, get into `Kim Land' where it is quite nice."
Mickle is hopeful she will be able to avoid shoulder surgery and instead undergo a rehabilitation program in the lead-up to next year's Rio Olympics.
"That is the best-case scenario and I'm hoping that is the case," she said.
"I've gone through so many injuries before that me and rehab are best friends."
Mickle failed to get out of the qualifying round on her Olympic debut in London three years ago.
Share
