Indian athletes continued to cut a sorry figure at the Olympics [Images] as Mandeep Kaur too could not lift the gloom, failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the women's 400 metres on Saturday.

Mandeep, who ran an impressive career-best 51.74 seconds at the 38th National Inter-State athletics championships in Madurai [Images] in June, was unable to repeat the performance in Beijing [Images] and timed 52.88 seconds to finish sixth in the seven-athlete Heat Two and overall 33rd.

The first three from each of the seven heats and the next three fastest made it to the semi-finals of the event.

US-based Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda also failed to reach anywhere near his personal best.

Gowda, who had a similar experience four years ago at the Athens Olympics, hurled the discus 60.69 metres to finish 11th in Group A and 22nd overall, a performance way below his personal best and national record of 64.96m.