Yorkshire's Emily Freeman bowed out in the semi-finals of the women's 200m in the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing last night and immediately vowed that this was a start and not an end.
After finishing seventh, clocking 22.83 seconds in a race containing double World Champion and Athens Olympic silver medallist Allyson Felix, who was drawn inside her, plus 100m silver medallist and fastest round two qualifier Sherone Simpson, the 27
-year old Wakefield Harrier immediately began looking forward to the sprint relays.
Freeman enthused: "That was absolutely massive – a whole new ball game for me – and now I have to get in more races like it.
"The stadium, the tension, the flame, the calibre of people around me – everything has been such a big experience for me.
"Obviously I'm disappointed but I think getting to the semi was realistic and I put a lot of pressure on myself to do that.
"I had a good lane, had a good draw so I can't complain about it – I've just got to run faster."
Freeman, who lives in Rotherham and had her mother and fiancé cheering her on in the 90,000 crowd, still has the 4x100m relay and closing ceremony to look forward to.
"With Jeannette (Kwakye – who set a new personal best in the 100m final) going so well, we've got a strong relay squad and should do well," added the UK national champion.
"Relay practice has gone really well and we are definitely looking forward to it.
"It would have been nice to have run faster and got a personal best but I've already broken that barrier this year (22.72 set in Leiden in Holland) and I've now got to keep running these times and maybe make another big jump next year," she said.
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