Solomon Islands runner Sharon Firisua looked all at sea in the opening round of the women's 100m at the Paris Olympics.
Which is hardly surprising, given she is a marathon runner who finished 72nd at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
For reasons that are far from clear, when Firisua failed to qualify for Paris in her favoured distance and the only discretionary vacancy for the Pacific nation was in the 100m, Solomon Islands Olympic officials handed it to her rather than their leading sprinter Jovita Arunia, who has a personal best of 12.87.
Arunia has reportedly threatened to quit the sport in disgust at the snub.
Firisua stopped the clock at 14.31 seconds on Friday, the slowest time of all 36 competitors in the preliminary round.
Only one other runner failed to break 14 seconds - Tuvalu's Temalini Manatoa.
By way of comparison, Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith from Cote D'Ivoire registered the fastest opening-round time of 10.87 and something quicker than that will almost certainly be needed to win the gold medal on Saturday.
Which is not to be critical of Firisua, who cut a disconsolate figure after contesting an event she had presumably never trained for or dreamed of running on the international stage.
She declined to speak to waiting media, presumably on orders from Solomon Islands Olympic officials, who were also unavailable for comment.
As the Solomon Islands only has two athletes competing in Paris, Firisua and swimmer Isabella MIller, they do not have a media officer.
Therefore it was left to a member of New Zealand's team to pass on the news that Firisua had been placed on a media ban.
In addition to finishing 72nd in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, Firisua contested the 5000m at the 2016 Rio Games.
Both of which are a world away from the hurly-burly of the 100m.
