British teenage distance runner goes out in 5000m heats at World Champs in Tokyo but looks back at a season to savour.

Innes FitzGerald's brilliant season came to a slightly anticlimactic end at the World Championships on Thursday. The 19-year-old won double gold at the European Under-20 Championships in Tampere earlier this summer and clocked a swift 8:32.90 for 3000m in Stockholm and 14:39.56 for 5000m in London. At the World Championships in Tokyo, though, she finished 18th in her 5000m heat in 15:15.83.

"Yeah, it was brutal," she told AW. "It was never going to be easy and I think I've had my fair share of highs this season."

Showing experience and grit, team-mate Hannah Nuttall rose to the occasion to finish seventh in her heat in 14:48.09 to make the final. Melissa Courtney-Bryant, meanwhile, was 16th in her heat in 15:27.70 in a year interrupted by a calf tear in the indoor season and a recurrence of the same injury in May. She felt she was fit again for Tokyo and optimistic of running well but it wasn't to be.

With Faith Kipyegon and Gudaf Tsegay, among others, in her race, FitzGerald knew what she was up against. "I wasn't naive going into the championships," she said. "I didn't think it was just going to be success."

"Obviously, I'd like to be in that final, I didn't quite have it today, but I came into this race thinking that whatever happened, I'd be happy with it because the way the season's gone, I can't really ask for more. Being selected for this championship was just a bonus, I think. I've gained so much experience from that and I think I've had such a great time ultimately and I can't wait for more opportunities like this in the future."

Did the heat and humidity come as a shock for the Devon girl? "I've not raced in anything like this before but we've been here for a couple of weeks at the holding camp and that's helped get used to the conditions.

"I think the prep I did was adequate. I just think fitness-wise, I'm just not quite with those other girls yet. Hopefully in future years I'll be able to do that."

What is her highlight of the year? "I think those European age group championships. The double gold there was just amazing."

Not the 5000m European under-20 record at the Diamond League in London? "Actually, now you say it, probably London's top, just because of the time and the incredible atmosphere in front of all my family.

"I've had so many amazing opportunities this summer."

Looking ahead, the Gavin Pavey-coached athlete will have a break now before easing into the cross-country season and the defence of her European under-20 title in December.

She is also into her second year at Exeter University and her student friends are putting some friendly pressure on her to turn out at the BUCS Championships. "Maybe," she says, "although it clashed this year with an indoor race I was doing."