There were a number of close calls for New Zealand competitors in the opening session of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
High jumper Hamish Kerr misses final at World Athletics Championships. Photo: Alisha Lovrich
Hammer thrower Lauren Bruce missed out by an agonising 1 centimetre from a place in the final and Hamish Kerr narrowly missed a slot in the men's high jump final.
Kerr was the first New Zealand athlete in action at Hayward Field and he finished 14th in qualification as 13 men advanced to Tuesday's final - with his best of 2.25 metres not quite good enough for the national high jump record-holder to advance to the medal round.
The Christchurch-based athlete cleared at his opening height of 2.17m before experiencing what ultimately would prove a costly first-time failure at 2.21m.
Competing in trademark sunglasses, Kerr responded positively by soaring beyond 2.21m with his second attempt and the 25-year-old looked to be finding his groove with a comfortable clearance at 2.25m with his first effort.
However, he could not quite find his rhythm at 2.28m and the World Indoor bronze medallist missed out on a height, which would have delivered safe passage for the final.
Eleven men progressed to the final courtesy of clearing 2.28m - including Olympic gold medallists Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi as well as World Indoor champion Sanghyeok Woo of South Korea.
A further two men qualified for the final; Edgar Rivera of Mexico and Mateusz Przybylko of Germany by virtue of having also cleared 2.25m.
Kerr has an identical record to Rivera and Przybylko at both 2.25m and 2.28m but he missed out because the Mexican and German successfully cleared 2.21m at the first time of asking.
Kerr said it was a tough day.
"I had some good jumps, some good heights and some good clearances but ultimately it wasn't at the right heights, but that's what you get in sport, and it definitely hurts. But onwards and upwards we have Comm Games coming up and I have to concentrate on that now."
Lauren Bruce came close to making the hammer throw final. Photo: Alisha Lovrich
For the first time in a field event in World Championship history, New Zealand had a full complement of three athletes in the women's hammer.
Bruce was the pick of the trio, but she missed out on a place in the women's hammer final by a gut-wrenching margin, despite producing a best hurl of 70.86m.
The Oceania record-holder opened with a nervy first round foul before unleashing a solid 68.92m in round two.
Maintaining impressive composure, the Timaru-raised athlete saved her best until last but ultimately it was not quite good enough to earn safe passage for the final.
Bruce placed seventh in qualification group A and then had the painful wait to see if she had done enough to advance.
Following the third round of group B she was just dislodged from a top 12 position.
"I would have liked it have thrown further, but it is the first time I've come out and performed at a major before. I'm happy with what I did and how I owned the competition out there," Bruce said.
Also performing in qualification group A, Oceania champion Nicole Bradley finished 30th overall with a best of 62.88m.
The 30-year-old Auckland-based thrower on her global international debut opened with a foul before following up with her only valid throw of the day.
Bradley climaxed her competition with a red flag.
"I'm not disappointed because I was competing on the world stage and I'm proud to be here. There was a lot of noise in the stadium and a lot of cameras which was hard for me," Bradley said.
Commonwealth Games champion Julia Ratcliffe also succumbed in the qualification as she produced a best effort for the day of 69.96m to place 16th overall.
The Hamilton-based athlete fired the hammer out to 64.53m in round one followed by a red flag in round two. She retained her composure in the final round to hurl the metal ball out to 69.96m but ultimately it was not quite good enough to book a spot in the final.
"Obviously I'm disappointed, I'm in really good shape and it was disappointing to not get one out there," Ratcliffe said.
American Janee' Kassanavoid of the US headed the qualifiers for Monday's women's hammer final with a best of 74.46m.