Torrie Lewis shines amid fellow Aussie's dead-heat as Nina Kennedy caught in Olympics drama

There was drama aplenty in the athletics at the Paris Olympics on Monday night, with young Aussie sprinter Torrie Lewis shining on the global stage and Nina Kennedy advancing to the pole vault final. But there was shock and confusion as leading British hope Molly Caudery crashed out of the pole vault without registering a height, and officials decided to send 20 athletes through to the final.

Kennedy made sure to respect the qualifying round and was rewarded with an easy ride into the final, as several other big names crashed out. Kennedy - who shared the gold medal with American Katie Moon at last year's world championships - only needed to vault twice for first-up clearances at 4.40m and 4.55m to book her spot in Wednesday night's gold medal showdown.

Moon was among six other vaulters who tied for top spot in qualifying, along with Kennedy. "I did what I had to do," said the 27-year-old Australian. "You know, the qualifying is always a tricky one.

"You want to give it the respect it deserves, and you want to jump well, while trying to maintain some physical energy and emotional energy for the final. So it's a tricky one."

But one athlete who didn't respect the qualifying round was world indoor champ Caudery, who crashed out without clearing a single height. The British athlete was a gold medal chance, but was left in tears after being eliminated in brutal scenes.

Caudery elected to start at a height of 4.55m, but failed on all three attempts. The decision backfired brutally after those who cleared 4.40m went through to the final. “I’m currently in a little bit of a shock," she said. "I’m so disappointed and I’m so sorry to everyone back at home who has been supporting me.

“I don’t have any excuse, I felt great, I’m in the best shape of my life, I love a big crowd. I didn’t feel overly nervous. I don’t have a reason for what just happened. I believe everything is a lesson and I’ll find out in time. It’s just going to take a little bit of time to process.

“Normally, on my first event, you want to clear it first time, of course. But I’d been waiting around for a little while, needed to get my legs moving and when I went in for my second attempt, in my mind, there was no way I wasn’t going to clear it. When I took that third attempt, I was just in disbelief.”

The final on Wednesday night will be a marathon affair involving 20 athletes. Officials were forced to make a decision because 11 athletes had tied for the final spot in the final. Rather than make them jump-off, officials decided to send them all through.

Torrie Lewis shines on global stage at Olympics

Teenage sensation Torrie Lewis - who famously beat Sha'Carri Rcihardson on her Diamond League debut in China earlier this year - advanced to the semi-finals in the 200m after winning her repechage race in 23.08 seconds. She didn't manage to make the final but announced herself as a star in the making on the Olympic stage.

“I think I was just a lot more relaxed going into these races and it definitely paid off,” she said. “Literally anything can happen. The fastest woman at the time isn’t always going to be the fastest so in these races you can never really give up.”

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Alanah Yukich into 400m hurdles semis after dead-heat drama

And there was drama for teammate Alanah Yukich, who squeezed into the 400m hurdles semi-finals by one thousandth of a second. On her Olympics debut, Yukich tied for second spot in her repechage race in a personal best of 55.11.

There were agonising scenes as Yukich and Naomi van den Broeck of Belgium waited to see who qualified for the semis, but they both went through after an incredibly close photo finish saw them both record identical times of 55.107s. Van den Broeck broke down in tears as she celebrated with Yukich in lovely scenes.

with AAP