Ashford's Lisa Dobriskey admitted her gamble failed after finishing fourth in the 1,500m final at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona – but she won’t be beating herself up about it.

The 26-year-old, pictured, was one of Britain’s brightest medal hopes, but after a poorly-judged final she finished more than two seconds down on her personal best in 4min01.54sec. Home favourite Nuria Fernandez won gold.

“I am disappointed but I know there was nothing more that I could have done,” said Dobriskey, who finished fourth at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“I did my best and it just wasn’t quite enough. I went in with the attitude that it was gold or nothing. I went out aggressively, made my move a bit earlier and consequently I wasn’t as strong. It was good to try and I can learn a lot.

“I’ve had a lot of criticism for waiting too long and finishing strongly when maybe I could have been faster in the final stages. All in all I'm very disappointed but I couldn’t have done any more."

There had been a slight cloud over Dobriskey’s participation after, hampered by injury, she only managed to finish third at June’s trials in Birmingham.

But Dobriskey – who won Commonwealth Games 1,500m gold in 2006 – was quick to pour cold water over any suggestions she was not 100 per cent fit.

“The preparation for Barcelona was great and there were no worries on the injury front at all for me,” she added.

Aviva’s support, both at home and abroad, is helping the team prepare to compete at their best. Watch the Aviva GB & NI Team live in action at the Aviva London Grand Prix. For more details visit aviva.co.uk/athletics