Dina Asher-Smith reveals the story about her period at European Athletics Championships.

Dina Asher-Smith has revealed that it was her period that caused her to collapse during the European Athletics Championships.

The 26-year-old, who is the reigning world champion in the 200m, was leading the race when she suddenly collapsed to the ground with just 10m to go. Asher-Smith later revealed that it was her period that caused her to collapse, and she urged for more period sports science to help female athletes deal with their cycles in the future.

“I just want to say on a serious note that people should maybe look into period sports science a bit more because I think if people knew how much of an impact it can have, maybe things would change a bit,” she said.

Asher-Smith also urged for more female athletes to speak openly about their periods, in order to help break the taboo around the topic.

“It’s not just me – there are so many other girls and women out there who have experienced the same thing, and we need to start talking about it more openly so that people are aware of the impact it can have,” she said.

The 26-year-old also revealed that she had been dealing with her period for the past few days, and that she had taken medication in an attempt to stop it. “I’ve been on my period for the last few days and I actually took medication yesterday to try and stop it, but obviously it didn’t work,” she said.

Asher-Smith finished fourth in the race, but her courageous effort was praised by many. The British athlete later took to Twitter to thank everyone for their support, and she vowed to come back stronger. “Thank you so much for all the messages,” she tweeted. “I gave it absolutely everything but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be today. I’ll be back soon stronger than ever!”

Dina Asher-Smith has been praised by her Great Britain relay teammates for speaking about the impact of her period during this year’s European Athletics Championships.

Writing on Instagram, Asher-Smith said: “I know first-hand that having your period during a championships is not easy.” Her teammate Daryll Neita responded: “Thank you for being so open and sharing your experience with us all.”

Another member of the team, Ashleigh Nelson, said she was “proud” of Asher-Smith for speaking out. The Briton is not the only athlete to have spoken about the impact of her period on her performance.

US runner Alysia Montano competed in the 800m at the 2014 US Championships while eight months pregnant. She later said she had been “bleeding the entire time” during the race.

And in 2015, Kenyan marathon runner Mary Keitany ran the New York Marathon while on her period. She said afterwards that she had not been affected by it during the race.