Rio 2016: India’s Jinson Johnson fails to qualify for men’s 800m semis

India kicked off their track and field campaign on a disappointing note on Friday as Jinson Johnson failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 800m at the Rio Olympics.

India kicked off their track and field campaign on a disappointing note on Friday as Jinson Johnson failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 800m at the Rio Olympics.

Jinson Johnson at the back of the pack (second from left) as David Lekuta Rudisha wins the 800m heat 3 at the Rio Olympics on August 12, 2016. (Getty Images)

Johnson, who barely qualified for the prestigious quadrennial event with a time of 1:45.98 in Bengaluru last month, finished with a timing of 1:47.27 to end the competition at the fifth spot in Heat 3.

World record holder David Rudisha of Kenya took top spot in the heat with a time of 1:45.09 to qualify automatically for the last three, followed by South Africa’s Rynardt van Rensburg and Great Britain’s Michael Rimmer.

India, who have sent their largest-ever contingent of 119 athletes in Rio Olympics, are yet to open their medal account in the ongoing Games.