The 24-year-old visually impaired athlete from Derry needed to clock 10.18sec or faster by the end of this weekend to secure a spot at the Olympics but missed out yesterday as he ran times of 10.63 and 10.47 in Loughborough.

He then flew to Dublin for today's Irish Championships and clocked 10.40 to win his heat and progress to the final.

But despite a blistering start in the final, Smyth (pictured above, centre) was overhauled by compatriot Paul Hession and finished in second place in a time of 10.38 with a legal tailwind helping him to his fastest time of the weekend.

Smyth finished just 00.01 behind Olympic-bound Hession but once again, his time was outside the A standard he needed for the Olympics this Summer.

It is a blow for Smyth, who showed superb form at the start of the season by clocking 10.24 in Florida in May where he trains alongside the likes of United States sprint star Tyson Gay.

But although Smyth will be bitterly disappointed, he will still be competing at the Paralympics where he will be strong favourite to defend the T13 100m and 200m titles he secured at Beijing 2008.

Earlier this week, Smyth's fellow Paralympian, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa booked a spot at the Olympics after the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) changed their own selection criteria to name the double leg amputee in the Olympic team for the both the individual 400 metres and the 4x400 metre relay.

Following the Olympics, Pistorius will head to the Paralympics to defend his T44 100m, 200m and 400m titles.

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