GB sprinter Jeremiah Azu suffered the heartbreak of being disqualified from the Olympic men’s 100m heats in Paris because of a false start, after his appeal was turned down.

Azu fought his case after the sanction, citing the noise in the stadium with the pole vault ongoing and French interest getting the crowd excited.

The 23-year-old Welshman was not allowed to race and his subsequent protest was turned down, leaving him bereft.

“Honestly I reacted to a sound,” Azu told BBC One.

“It’s a shame, the crowd is so excited, they have got the pole vault going on, the French fans are in here.

“It’s a shame they did not let me run under protest. I am not sure what rules are being used.

“I was saying I want to run under protest. Any other race they allow you to run and then afterwards you review it. It’s the Olympics so it is clearly different rules.”

Although Azu’s individual dream is over he can at least expect to be involved in GB’s 4x100m men’s relay next week.