Army's Kat Matthews 'overwhelmingly sad' after DNF at Ironman World Championships
British Army Captain Kat Matthews has said she is "disgusted" and "embarrassed" after the triathlon star withdrew from the race at the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
In a candid post on her Instagram, the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) World number five did not hold back her disappointment and recalled being unable to make decisions after a "switch went" in the bike phase of the race.
She wrote: "I'm disgusted, embarrassed but overwhelmingly sad by my race performance/DNF.
"I've no definitive explanation. I do know it was not the heart/brain/psychological. Something was not right with me physically.
"I was in an excellent position, I remember thinking an hour into the bike 'OK, totally within myself', very prepared for the 1hr30-2hr30 section to the turnaround.
"Then, literally, like a switch went and I struggled to make decisions."
The Army captain had high hopes for for her debut in Kona after finishing a terrific second at the IRONMAN World Championships in Lahti, Finland, in August.
She described how she began to feel like her safety on the bike was in danger, when she began to doubt if she could ride the descent from Hawi.
She wrote: "The edge of the road white line became my safety (only focus), I just stayed next to that and cycled forwards (barely).
"Pro females calling out support and asking if I was ok as they passed at speed (Thank You!). Wonderful humans at Hawi brought me back to my senses and I was, in the moment, uncertain if I could descend safely (a straight road downhill)."
Rounding off her post, Capt Matthews said that her performance was "not good enough" and vowed to get to the bottom of what went wrong.
"I am stubborn and will never accept that these days happen," she said.
"It's not good enough. I'll continue to beat myself up and overanalyse it for now.
"You don't earn the euphoria of success without being prepared and can handle these heartbreaks," she added.
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