The 25-year-old Bristol runner condemned her handling by the British team, and UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins in particular, as "appalling".

 

A British Olympic Association spokesman said: "The athlete in question has been on and off running for the last few weeks and has had immense medical support prior to the BOA training in Macau, at the training camp and here in Beijing including scans, manipulations and acupuncture.

 

"She was give a painkilling injection and asked to run 2,000m at reasonable pace, agreed with her coach, to ascertain that she could actually perform in the race and whether the painkilling injection worked."

 

Reed passed the trial and in Friday night's race finished 23rd out of 31 runners - fellow Briton Jo Pavey came in 12th - and afterwards blamed the test for tiring her out.

 

Reed said: "Dave Collins wanted to make sure I wasn't going to let the team down, I guess he didn't want any bad performances, but to put somebody through that the day before their first ever major international is absolutely appalling.

 

"It has been a childhood dream to come to these Olympics, it's all I've ever wanted my whole life. It's not at all how I imagined it, I wanted to go home, I was in shreds.

 

"If it hadn't been for my coach, and my mum and dad phoning from back home, I don't think I would have made it, I was an emotional wreck and shaking like a leaf. It was just too much.

 

"I dosed myself up with painkillers two hours before, put on my long socks and said a long prayer that I could get through it."