A dejected Ciara Mageean said she had "absolutely nothing" in her legs after finishing a disappointing 13th place in the opening heat of the women's 1500m at the IAAF World Championships in London.
The 25-year-old, who finished in 11th-place in her Olympic semi-final last year, finished well outside her season’s best in a time of 4:10:60, which was last place after Czech runner Simona Vrazlova was disqualified.
World record holder Genzebe Dibaba powered home to victory in a time of 4:02:67, with Caster Semenya rallying to finish in second.
With the top six in each heat, plus the next six fastest runners going through, it means the Portaferry woman bows out.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, Mageean said a top six finish to qualify was "doable" and insists she was confident at the start line
"I felt good. The pace was fine and I was like, ‘stay out of bother, don’t get caught up in the early bursts’," she said.
"Then I just couldn’t get my legs to switch on.
"I didn’t even fathom not getting out of the rounds."
"It was a tough heat. I’ll give it that, but I should have been in top six. I definitely should have.
"I’m as good as all those girls and I just didn’t.
"I didn’t even fathom not getting out of the rounds."
Reflecting on her below par finish, Mageean said she was struggling to comprehend why she under-performed.
"The early pace was fine. I was sitting there comfortably thinking, ‘two laps to go, this is great’, but nothing, absolutely nothing.
"I can’t even grasp that out there today. I’m not here looking for an excuse and I knew I could get through that round, so I have no excuse for that. None."
'I'm not looking for excuses. I just couldn't get my legs to wake up after 2 laps,' said Ciara Mageean afterwards #IAAFWorlds pic.twitter.com/xHD8pJ3CDr
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 4, 2017
