Danny McFarlane lies on the track after finishing fourth in yesterday's men's 400m hurdles final. - charles pitt

beijing, china

Jamaican athletes, in two finals contested yesterday, failed to add to the country's medal tally at the games of the 29th Olympiad.

After four days, on the track, Jamaica have won two gold medals with Usain Bolt's 9.69 world record run, and Shelly-Ann Fraser's 10.78 stunner, and two silver medals. Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart picked up the silver medals in a dead-heat women's 100m final.

However, on yesterday's fourth day, Danny McFarlane and Kenia Sinclair failed to build on Jamaica's fortune.

Faltered

McFarlane, who won silver in the Athens Olympics, came the closest to securing a medal, but faltered in the last few metres of the men's 400m hurdles. He finished fourth in a season-best 48.30 seconds.

"I did well coming off the curve, but I messed up at the ninth hurdle and that cost me a medal," McFarlane said.

Markino Buckley, Jamaica's second man in the final, finished seventh in 48.60 seconds as Americans Angello Taylor in a personal-best 47.25, Kerron Clement (47.98) and Bershawn Jackson (48.06) finished one-two-three.

In the women's 800m, Sinclair was sixth in a season-best 1:58.24 seconds.

Sinclair said the pace had been just too a little too hot for her.

A little bit too fast

"I decided I was going to go out with Kenyans Pamela Jelimo and Jeneth Jepkosgei Busienei, but I guess I went out too hard ... it was a little bit too fast for me," she said.

"Because I had nothing to lose ... I wanted to be in the top three, but I was not strong enough at the end ... ."

Sinclair chased both Jelimo and Busienei until around the 100m mark, but faded away badly down the stretch. Jelimo produced a new world junior record (1:54.87) to win ahead of Busienei (1:56.07).

Pamela Jelimo of Kenya (right) leads Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica (centre) and Merve Aydin of Turkey in the women's 800-metre heat during the athletics competition in the National Stadium, at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, yesterday. - ap