Britain's Idowu sorry for early exit

Britain's Phillips Idowu competes in the men's triple jump qualification during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium August 7, 2012.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Phillips Idowu apologized for letting down the home fans on Tuesday after the former world triple jump champion crashed out in qualifying at the London Olympics.

"I have seen the crowd give so much support this week and I accept I let them down," said Idowu, who never looked comfortable and registered only two of his three jumps.

"You guys have seen me over a number of years, and this wasn't me. Not a great competition. My main goal was to deal with being pain free. The timing wasn't there for me," he told reporters.

America's 22-year-old world champion and gold medal favorite Christian Taylor topped qualifying with a jump of 17.21 meters, followed by 2008 bronze medalist Leevan Sands of Bahamas (17.17m).

Idowu's participation in his home Games and fourth Olympics had been in doubt after the 33-year-old pulled out of the national athletics team's final training camp with a hip injury.

While the Beijing silver medalist had defended his preparations, he failed to make the qualifying mark of 17.10m, finishing outside the top 12 in 14th place with a best jump of 16.53m.

Idowu had only competed three times in 2012, the last event being in June in Eugene, Oregon, where he injured his foot. In July he pulled out of the London Grand Prix with a back injury just 20 minutes before the competition was due to start.

His decision to then pull out of the national training camp in Portugal prompted the British Olympic Association to ask for Idowu's medical records as fears about his fitness grew, but the athlete said he had simply decided to stay in London to prepare for the Games and receive treatment.

Idowu said the London Games was not the end for him.

"I was tagged as a favorite a year ago but now I don't get a chance to show them what I can do," he said. "I will regroup and prepare for the future, I will definitely go on."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)