Sprinter Saraswati Saha bowed out of the women's 200 metres at the Olympic Games in Athens on Monday after turning in a below-par performance at the Olympic Stadium.

The 25-year-old Kolkata-based athlete finished a poor fifth in a sub-par time of 23.43 seconds in the first round heat.

Saha's time in heat three was far below her season-best of 23.07 seconds, which she achieved at home to attain the qualifying mark for the Games.

Had she clocked 23.07 seconds she would have gained automatic qualification in the next round.

Britain's Joice Maduaka, who was fourth in the same heat, clocked 23.15 seconds, which was below Saha's season's best and sneaked into the next round.

The top four finishers from each of the seven heats automatically qualified for the second round along with four best losers.

Cydonie Mothersill of Cayman Islands won heat three in 22.40 seconds with Beverly McDonald of Jamaica coming second in 22.90 seconds.

Saha, who won the gold medal in the event at the Busan Asian Games in 2002 clocking 23.28 seconds, has also run under 23 seconds in her career. She clocked her personal best of 22.83 seconds at Ludhiana the same year.

On Monday, Saha got of to a rather sluggish start and though she accelerated in the straight she was unable wipe out the lead she had conceded to the first four finishers.

Overall, she placed 33^rd. Only the first 32 made it to the second round.

India's Saraswati Saha bowed out of the 200 m women's race after she failed to qualify in the heats of the Olympics Games in Athens on Monday.

Saha clocked 23.43 seconds to finish fifth in heat three.