By Charlie Bennett in Paris

Sam Atkin revealed his Olympics were ruined by a combination of food poisoning and Covid after he crashed out of the 5000m in Paris.

The Grimsby runner ate some bad noodles in America two months ago, and was off the track for two weeks.

He was then hit by his first bout of Covid just three weeks before the Games began, and the unfortunate combination knocked Atkin for six.

He had little in the tank at the Stade de France and faded badly towards the end of the race, finishing 18th of 20 runners in his first-round heat.

“It has been a struggle the last five weeks,” he said.

“The extreme food poisoning took it out of me and I felt like there was enough for me to get back.

“Although I could hardly walk up the stairs, it takes it out of you. But eventually I started coming back after being out for two weeks.

“I started coming but then three weeks ago, I got Covid for the first time, so my body has not been very assertive with running.

“I still wanted to come out here and see what my body could do, because I had no idea.

“It didn’t work for me today, but I know I can still do a lot better.”

At 30, Atkin knows he is in the peak of his career and had been running better than ever, before first becoming ill.

He was buoyed by a personal best 12:54.66 set in Los Angeles, just two seconds short of Sir Mo Farah’s 5000m record to qualify for the Games.

That is almost a minute up on what fastest-qualifier Jakob Ingebrightsen clocked in the first round, though the pre-event favourites always hold plenty back for the final.

Atkins made his Olympic debut over 10,000m in Tokyo but suffered an injury mid-race and this only adds salt to the wound.

“I have ran well this year,” he added.

“That was not the real me out there, I know I can run well. I have done some good things and I just wanted the chance to show that.

“I am dealing with the lows of everything and that is hard. It is life, you deal with the highs and lows. I am excited for the future. Sadly, this was just not my time.”

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