Her moment in the spotlight didn’t go according to plan, but Katy Sealy has arrived back in Suffolk bursting with pride after representing Belize at the Olympic Games in Rio.

The 25-year-old from Bawdsey finished last in her 100m hurdle heat, having qualified as a wildcard to represent the country of her father’s birth, recording a time of 15.79s and missing out on beating her personal best of 15.2s.

Normally a heptathlete, the Ipswich Harriers’ member was unable to compete in her normal discipline as she did not reach the qualifying standard for the competition, which does not accept wildcards at the Games.

Reflecting on the race, in which she ran in the lane next to eventual bronze medallist Kristi Catlin, of the USA, the former Farlingaye High School pupil said: “I was disappointed with my time and I can’t put my finger on what went wrong.

“I felt really good in training and on the morning of my race and the conditions were fine, so I cannot blame them.

“I guess nerves must have got to me which was really disappointing as I normally perform on the big stage and did it at the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

“Being the Olympics it was probably one step too far, but the experience was brilliant.

“It was an absolute dream come true to be there and I have had hundreds of lovely messages from people in Belize and back home saying they are proud of me.”

“I would liked to have competed in the heptathlon, but I was so grateful for the opportunity to be there and it’s given me the motivation to get back out on the track and hopefully progress ahead of Tokyo (Olympics) in four years time.”

During her time in Brazil, Sealy was rubbing shoulders with some of the Olympics’ biggest stars, returning home on Tuesday, and said: “I arrived at the Olympic Village with some of the Team GB athletes and that was quite nice.

“When I arrived (cyclists) Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas were there so I mobbed them and managed to get a quick picture, it was too good an opportunity not to.

“Then to walk around the village and see the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Andy Murray and Usain Bolt was quite surreal.”