Adam Gemili has blamed bad press about his coach Rana Reider after he crashed out of the World Championships.
The sprinter failed to progress beyond the 200m heats in Eugene on Monday after running 20.60 seconds.
It comes with Reider under investigation after multiple complaints of sexual misconduct were made against him. He was also removed from the athlete warm-up area at Hayward Field after gaining unauthorised access on Sunday as he is not accredited.
“There has been a lot of bad press around my set-up and me and it’s been relentless, every week it’s just taken its toll,” Gemili told BBC Sport.
“I am old enough now that I should be able to separate it but I haven’t really been subject to this amount of press before.
“This year I have taken a battering and it’s showing. I just was not good enough.”
Reider is being investigated by the US Center for SafeSport, with Gemili having his lottery funding suspended for staying with his coach. British team-mate Daryll Neita left the Florida-based camp and is now training in Italy.
Reider’s lawyer has previously called the allegations “unproven”.
Gemili did apologise for his comments on Twitter: “No excuse other than I wasn’t good enough. The blame is on me.
“I also shouldn’t have made comments about the press when interviewed. I do understand they have a job to do but it’s just been a lot to deal (with) and hope you can understand that.”
