Phillips Idowu admitted "he was never going to finish" the men's triple jump event at the London 2012 Olympics.
Idowu, the 2008 silver medallist, recorded 16.47m with his first jump before stuttering on his second run-up and failing to register a jump to miss out on a final berth.
Visibly gutted in the press mixed zone, Idowu said: "It's not good. I was pain-free, which I was grateful about, but the lack of competition [in the build-up] just didn't help me.
"You have seen me competing over the years and that just wasn't me. Regardless of my achievements, I was never going to finish these Games."
Idowu added it was "never an option" to miss out on his fourth - and home - Olympic Games and despite controversy prior to Idowu's participation over his whereabouts, he assured he had been training "every day".
Idowu, 33, only arrived in the Olympic Village on Monday after missing Team GB's training camp in Portugal.
He eventually missed out on the final by nine centimetres, as Dzmitry Platnitski took the final spot with a distance of 16.62m.