England's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey has admitted that he is "disappointed" after failing to qualify for the final of the men's 100m at the Commonwealth Games.
The 25-year-old finished fourth in his heat with a time of 10.25s, just 0.04s behind winner Warren Fraser and Jamaica's Nickel Ashmeade. The result saw him finish 15th overall from the 24 semi-finalists in what was a tightly-contested round.
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Moments after his exit from the event, Sports Mole grabbed a word with Aikines-Aryeetey to discuss his performance.
How are you feeling after that?
"A bit disappointed. I was hoping that the conditions could have helped us a bit more. Yeah, it's not so great. I'm trying to stay positive but I was up there with the best, you know, Nickel Ashmeade and Keston Bledman and both ran with pretty quick times. Looking here today, that was the quicker heat and it seems they just had the right conditions with them."
Are you pleased with your performance?
"Not massively, no, because obviously I feel I could have got on better through the rounds, but I've been knocked out just like that. It's very disappointing because like I said, I feel like the conditions are swaying in there. It could have been better with us. But I came here trying to target a medal and unfortunately I haven't done that today."
Do you still have high hopes about competing in the 4x100m?
"Massively high hopes. We've got a massive amount of depth moving forward, but at the same time, this is the year I've got a lot of consistency in me. Guys like Keston ran fairly well yesterday, but he's probably going to get knocked out now. It's hard because obviously the conditions play a lot with what they're doing. This way you feel the quarter-finals would be beneficial because I'm a greater competitor. I didn't get the greatest of starts and that's how the cookie crumbles I guess."
How do you feel about the Usain Bolt factor in that relay?
"Obviously you've got to consider him but there's a few other members in the squad so we're going to come firing really. You've got the likes of myself, Adam [Gemili] and a few others going forward so hopefully we can look forward with that."
Aikines-Aryeetey competes in the men's 4x100m relay in Glasgow on Friday.
Barney Corkhill
