The agony of defeat: The Olympic fails of athletes who crashed out of the Games (but there's always Rio 2016)

For the gold-medal Olympians, their future post-Games holds exciting prospects of TV interviews, book deals and lucrative endorsements.
But what of those who made a less than glorious impact in London? Enter American distance runner Morgan Uceny who was in fine form for a medal in the 1,500-meter final last Friday, when she was tripped from behind on the last lap and sent sprawling across the track.
It was a memorable, if disappointing, exit which saw the distraught Uceny pound her palms against the track in frustration before erupting into tears.

 

Taking a tumble: Morgan Uceny of the United States falls during the women's 1500m final on Day 14 of the London 2012 Olympic Games

 

Crashing down: Uceny appeared to have had her heels clipped when she landed on the track and lost all hopes of a medal

 

 

Battling on: The other runners leap to avoid the Californian track star who was left sprawled on the ground in front of thousands of spectators

Following the race, Uceny said: 'I still don't know what happened. I've heard a few different things from people, but can't say definitively what or who caused the fall. I remember running in Lane 2 to try to avoid the crowding behind me. I was in a great position at the bell and was feeling great.
'Once I hit the ground, I was just devastated.'
She was on her hands and knees, staring at the track in disbelief, when Asli Cakir Alptekin of Turkey won the race.

For Uceny, from Mammoth Lakes, California, this was another painful moment at a major competition. She also fell at the world championships last summer. After her race, Uceny walked off the track with blood dripping from her leg and into the medical area. She left the stadium without talking to anyone.
However if it's any consolation to the runner, she was far from the only Olympic athlete to make a disappointing exit from the Games.

 

 

Frustration: The runner pounds the track in rage after she crashed out of the race after years of hard work and commitment

 

 

 

Shattered: With bloodied knees from her fall, Morgan Uceny leaves the track at the London Games after her disappointing exit

Defending Olympic weightlifting champion Matthias Steiner had a lucky escape earlier in the Games when he dropped his 432 pound barbell onto his neck.
Losing his balance on his second lift of the competition, Steiner couldn't sustain the weights above his head during the snatch portion on the platform.
Falling awkwardly as the barbell landed on top of him, medical personnel rushed to his aid and hastily erected a shield around him while he was tended to.
The crowd waited anxiously for any sign that the 29-year-old had come through the dramatic accident and the German eventually staggered to his feet and waved to them before walking into the back room.
He did not emerge for his third attempt and an announcer told the crowd that the 2008 Olympic champion was being taken to a hospital for a precautionary x-ray on his neck.

 

Painful exit: German weightlifter Matthias Steiner loses his balance as the 432lb barbell lands on his neck on August 7

 

 

Agony: The defending world champion grimaces in pain as the weight lands on him - he forfeited his title at London 2012

America made the men's 4x400 meter relay final at the Olympics despite the fact that runner Manteo Mitchell broke his leg half way round the track.
The 25-year-old athlete took the first leg of America's heat and although he finished with a limp there was no obvious sign of the pain he was feeling.
He said afterwards: 'I got out pretty slow, but I picked it up and when I got to the 100-metre mark it felt weird. As soon as I took the first step past the 200-meter mark, I felt it break. I heard it.
'I even put out a little war cry, but the crowd was so loud you couldn't hear it. I knew if I finished strong we could still get it (the baton) around. I saw Josh Mance motioning me in for me to hand it off to him, which lifted me.

 

Keep on running: Olympic relay runner Manteo Mitchell broke his leg in the middle of the men's 4x400 race... but just kept going to pass the baton

 

 

Through the pain barrier: Mitchell runs towards American teammate Joshua Mance during the men's relay heats shortly after breaking his leg

'I didn't want to let those three guys down, or the team down, so I just ran on it. It hurt so bad.'

Mitchell's decision to go through the pain barrier allowed his U.S. team mates to sprint to a joint finish with the Bahamas in identical times of 2 minutes 58.87 seconds, the fastest ever run in the first round of the relay at the Olympic Games.
And not every diving performance was a show of grace and athleticism either. Germany's Stephan Feck attempted a somersault, but lost the grip on one leg which saw him spin out of control and land flat on the water flat on his back with a huge thud on August 7.

 

 

Precarious: Germany's Stephan Feck teeters on the edge of the springboard during the men's three-meter dive preliminary round but loses his balance...

 

 

... before landing with a splash in the swimming pool to loud gasps from the crowd (and a lot of zeroes from the judges)

He climbed out of the pool apparently unhurt after huge gasps from the crowd during the men's three-meter springboard, but received zeroes from all the judges.
There was also devastation for China's hurdling hopeful Liu Xiang after he hit the first obstacle in the 110-metre event. Xiang limped out at the starting line in front of his home crowd four years ago in Beijing with an Achilles problem and fell hard at the first obstacle in the race this year.
Xiang, who had been one of the gold medal favorites, crashed into the first hurdle, aggravating an already weakened Achilles, and was eliminated from the race.
The qualifying round of the men's pole vault took a dramatic turn when Cuba's Lazaro Borges saw his pole snap in mid-flight. Thankfully, the athlete did not appear hurt after the incident - which was replayed many times for TV audiences.

 

Hitting the deck: Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, left, and Hungary's Balazs Baji were early fallers in the men's 110m hurdles on Tuesday

 

Carnage: Xiang, Poland's Artur Noga, Barbados' Shane Braithewaite (second right) and Senegal's Moussa Dembele (far right) all failed to finish the hurdling race

 

 

Unlucky break: Lazaro Borges of Cuba's pole snaps as he competes in the men's pole vault qualifier on day 12 of the Games

 

Even champs have their down days: Team USA's Gabrielle Douglas falls off the beam during the artistic gymnastics women's Beam final on Day 11 of the London Game