Kim Mickle was in agony after her shoulder popped out. Credit:Cameron Spencer ​She was eventually ushered off the track by officials and taken for medical treatment. Athletics Australia coach Craig Hilliard said doctors at the track could not get the shoulder back in place so she was taken to hospital for treatment. "It was after she released the javelin so it looks like it is the rear side of the shoulder. We know nothing else other than she has gone to hospital to have it put in place," he said. "It's unfortunate but Kim did everything with her rehabilitation - she had MRI checks before she came away, she met all her fitness standards before she left, she threw well in Florida but once you have surgery on a shoulder it doesn't matter what sport you are in the propensity for re-injuring is always high. She knew the risk but it is horrible for her." Mickle injured her shoulder in competition ahead of the world championships in Beijing last year but still went to China and attempted to throw but further damaged her shoulder there and needed surgery.

Hilliard said that as a result of that experience they were even more cautious about Mickle this time and conservative in her medical treatment. "Everything had been ticked off … we wouldn't have been taking risks given what occurred to her last year," he said. Mickle, who won silver at the world championships in Moscow in 2013, said before the Olympics that she had thrown in training but had not competed in 11 months so she was unsure how far she could throw. "For me to be here means I do think I am in good shape but I haven't tested it," Mickle said "It's just going to be one of those, if it happens it happens if not well, look, I've given it a red-hot crack."

Mickle had three throws, the first 57.2m, the next a foul and the fateful third was 55.93m. Fellow Australian thrower Kathryn Mitchell was waiting in the call room to compete in the next group when Mickle came through cradling her arm and in obvious pain. "It was a bit of a shock," she said. "She has done everything she can possibly do to get back for this competition, she has ticked every box in terms of her competition. She had to leave it all out there on the track tonight she had to go for it, it's the Olympic Games." "She'll bounce back, it's Kim Mickle.

Mitchell has been throwing exceptionally well in the lead up to Rio but struggled with her throws in qualification, managing 61.63m with her final attempt to finish 12th and take the last place for the final. "I didn't expect to qualify in that manner but it doesn't matter now, it's done. I am in," she said. "I was twelfth qualifier in London I hope to finish better than ninth place there. "I am so relieved to get through, I think I deserve to be in the final. I have been in good shape I belong in there with those girls. Now we will fight it out."