A frustrated Arantxa King was at a loss to explain what went wrong in her long jump qualifying after unfathomably failing to reach the medal round at the Commonwealth Games this morning.

King had strongly expected to cruise into tomorrow’s final but was only able to register one legal mark, with an ineffectual leap of 6.02 metres — some way short of her personal best of 6.46 — missing out on a place among the 12 finalists by 27 centimetres.

Her surprisingly poor performance was the first significant setback for Bermuda‘s team of 18 athletes in Glasgow, with the 24-year-old admitting that she had missed great opportunity.

“There was really no question about me not getting to the final,” the Kentucky-based jumper said. “It’s so frustrating because I know I’m in great shape and that I could have placed in the final.

“I felt really awesome in warm-ups but I just didn’t make the right adjustments when the competition started.”

King’s one legal leap was bookended by two foul attempts, with the Stanford University graduate unable to uncork the necessary approach rhythm required to jump with any real conviction.

“The one jump I did [register] was so far behind the board — I was all over the place,” said King, who competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

“It’s actually more annoying than anything else. Both of the jumps that weren’t recorded would have been perfectly fine to get me into the final.

“My approach hasn’t been great all season and that was case again today.”

Bianca Stuart, of the Bahamas, was the leading qualifier with her season-best jump of 6.67 earning automatic passage to the final.

Shianne Smith, the Bermuda heptathlete, finished tenth in the women’s long jump — her fifth event — at the Commonwealth Games this morning.

Smith posted a jump of 5.24 metres to take her points tally to 3,656, leaving her in ninth position out of 12 athletes.

The 28-year-old competes in the javelin and 800 metres this afternoon.