Rio Olympics 2016: Agony for Hannah Miley as Team GB swimmer misses out on Olympic bronze by inches
HANNAH MILEY suffered yet more Olympic heartbreak as she saw her medal dreams dashed on the line.
The Scot had come to Rio in desperate search of a long-awaited gong in the 400 metres individual medley, having finished sixth in Beijing and fifth in London.
And Miley had looked likely to claim Team GB’s first medal of the Games when she was in third from 250m, a place she still held with the finish line in sight.
But sadly for the brave Brit, Spaniard Mireia Belmonte came through to pip her right at the death.
And Miley broke down in tears when she saw her dad Patrick, who is also hear coach, in the stands.
She will now have to pick herself up ahead of Monday’s heats in her second - less favoured - event of the 200m IM.
But Miley could not hide her emotions last night, as she sobbed: “It’s really hard being so close to a medal and it not quite happening.
“When I reached the wall and looked up and I didn’t see the lights on the block it was just like ‘Oh, pants’.
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“But I gave it everything I had. I genuinely had nothing left.
“I’m not letting this Olympics define my career.
“My journey still continues. Maybe in my fourth Olympics I might get there.
“My first Olympics I was sixth, London I was fifth and then this one I was fourth, so maybe in the next one I will be third.
“When I saw my dad, that’s when the tears came.
“It’s tough but that’s sport. It’s very brutal.”
Hungarian Katinka Hosszu won gold as she broke the world record by more than TWO SECONDS, in a time of four minutes and 26.36sec.
But there was to be no new landmark from Brit Adam Peaty in the men’s 100m breaststroke semi-final.
The Staffordshire star, 21, broke his own world record in the afternoon’s heats.
And though he clocked a slightly slower 57.62sec in the semi, he still qualified for Sunday night’s final a second and a half faster than any other rival - and looks a shoo-in for gold.
James Guy - a world champion like Peaty - will fancy his own chances in the 200m freestyle, the heats of which start on Sunday.
But last night he missed out on a medal in the 400m, fading into sixth despite leading up to 300m.
The other British performance of note on the first night in the Aquatics Stadium came from Max Litchfield.
He broke his personal best to finish fourth in the 400m individual medley.