Fionnuala McCormack furious as nationality switches see her come up short

Many times in her career, Fionnuala McCormack has had to grin and bear as she dealt with the bitter taste of fourth place at a major championships, but this time it was clear she had enough.

“I’m sick of it,” said McCormack, moments after stepping off the track in Amsterdam after last night’s European 10,000m final, her fourth place finish in 31:30.74 seven seconds shy of a medal. “It’s the exact same thing every f**king time. It’s more than frustrating at this stage.”

McCormack ran with the main pack for much of the race before losing contact with runner-up Ana Dulce Felix and bronze medallist Karoline Grovdal with a little over eight laps to run, but the Kilcoole athlete said afterwards had no regrets. “I did everything I could,” she said.