Jessica Zelinka cursed the high jump and swore about the long jump.
And then she kicked herself for perhaps one of her biggest blunders of a heartbreaking two days of competition - keeping her daughter Anika away from the stadium Saturday night.
The 30-year-old from London, Ont., was a threat for a medal in the heptathlon at the London Olympics, but a disastrous high jump left her battling from too far behind. She finished seventh, missing out on the medal she'd had in her sights since she was fifth four years ago in Beijing.
She broke down and sobbed afterward, and the person she needed the most wasn't there. Zelinka had instructed her husband Nathaniel Miller not to bring their three-year-old daughter to Olympic Stadium, knowing it would be jam-packed, the event would run late, and it would take them a couple of hours to get home afterward.
"But I could really use a hug from her right now," Zelinka said, wiping away tears. "She could have stayed up late. What was I thinking?"
Zelinka finished with 6,480 points, capping her performance with a gutsy run in the 800 metres - finishing second in two minutes 9.15 seconds.
British star Jessica Ennis won the gold with a score of 6,955 points.
Brianne Theisen of Humboldt, Sask., finished 11th with 6,383 points.
Zelinka, coming off a Canadian-record performance last month in Calgary, recorded personal bests in the hurdles, 200 metres and javelin. But her high jump early on Day 1 left her well back in 19th place, and then a so-so long jump on Saturday put her out of medal contention entirely.
"I don't know what to make of it because five of the seven was exactly what I wanted to do," Zelinka said, finally gathering herself after erupting in sobs.
"Five out of seven isn't bad, but in heptathlon the jumps are not forgiving."
Away from the buzz of Olympic Stadium, Inaki Gomez recorded a Canadian record in the 20kilometre race walk, held on a course in central London.
Burnaby's Gomez recorded a time of 1: 20.58 to finish 13th, lowering the previous mark of 1: 21.03 set by Arturo Huerta in 2000.
Gomez is a 24-year-old who moved from Mexico with his family when he was 11.
Ding Chen of China won the gold in 1: 18.46.
