Caerleon triath-lon star Anneliese Heard was left "gutted" after her Olympic dream ended after the first stage of the Triathlon World Cup in Madeira.

The 23-year-old had high hopes in the event after finishing ninth in the Ishigaki World Cup last month, but she revealed that a virus picked up in the Far East scuppered her chances of making the Athens Olympics.

Heard said: "I picked up a virus out in Japan, which I thought had gone, but it must have been the reason I was completely out of energy. I wasn't able to train as much as usual because I wanted to rest up and be sure that I would be okay.

"I was really struggling in the swim, even though I was in the leading pack.

"The bike is my strongest area but when I got on, I just felt like I had nothing left to offer. My legs had gone and it felt like I had just finished the whole race rather than just the swim.

"It was disappointing because I was feeling pretty good and I am as physically fit as I have ever been, but if you are not 100 per cent in these events you get blown away."

Heard will now miss out on Athens and she admits that after a great showing in Japan, she felt that she was in with a chance.

She said: "If you had told me last year when I broke my wrist that I would have a chance of being in the squad I would not have believed it.

"But after Japan, I must admit I did get my hopes up of making it, so I am a bit gutted.

"But there will be chances again for future Olympics and there are still a lot of events to go this year."

Heard revealed that boyfriend and Newport Gwent Dragon Ian Gough, who was controversially left out of Wales' World Cup squad last year, had helped her get over the disappointment.

She said: "Ian knows how I feel, as he missed out on the World Cup last year, so he has been a big help.

"He has told me that I just have to bounce back and get on with it. There are still some very big events coming up including one at Windsor. I haven't competed much in Britain so that would be nice.

"Also the Commonwealth Games are in less than two years, so there is plenty for me to aim for."