KENT athlete Andy Graffin suffered a disastrous build up to his quest for the IAAF World Championships 5,000m qualifying standard in Belgium.

The 26-year-old, from Tonbridge, had won the AAA title over the distance a week earlier in Birmingham and was chasing the qualifying times of 13:21.50 (A-standard) or 13:25.40 (B-standard) that would have secured his place in the British team for Paris.

But it all went terribly wrong for the Belgrave Harrier before he even stepped onto the track for the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Heusden. He said: “I arrived at Brussels Airport to discover that BA had left my luggage at Gatwick.

"I had my spikes with me, of course, but they said the earliest they could get the rest of my gear to me was on the flight I was returning home on. I told them to leave it in London until I got back and dashed around to buy new kit to run in."

Graffin has experienced problems with his Achilles and tight calves since the Euopean Cup at the start of the outdoor season. They got the better of him during the race and he did not finish it.

He said: "I’ve never dropped out of a race before, but they were getting worse and I was concerned enough to step off the track with 800 to go.

“I’m hoping to be all right now for Friday’s Norwich Union London Grand Prix. I’ll go for the time there - and hope my kit’s caught up with me by then.

" When I got back to Gatwick, I discovered it was in Brussels.”