Seamus Derbyshire might be out but he is certainly not down.

The Stockton Brook sprinter failed to progress to the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships, his season ending with a first-round exit.

But the 25-year-old has transformed on and off the track this season, leaving him confident of coming back even stronger.

Derbyshire took time out from athletics last season after struggling with anxiety as he tried to hide his flamboyant, queer personality from his rivals.

But now confident to show off who he is - and he got a loud cheer here for a theatrical wave to the camera in the starting blocks - it has changed his career and he leaves Tokyo confident he can mix it with the best.

"I have learnt I genuinely have more belief in myself than I thought I do," he said.

"I just remember the first day stepping onto the training track, seeing people I'd looked up to in previous years.

"And just being like, you know what? I'm not actually frightened by anyone.

"I feel so confident in my own belief that thought I want to have one of the big three (Karsten Warholm, Rai Benjamin and Alison dos Santos) in my race. I want to have a tough race.

"I didn't quite do it today but that knowing that I have that belief in myself is like a huge positive for me."

With the top four athletes qualifying for the semi-finals in each heat, Derbyshire needed a strong start. He was steady out of the blocks but got left behind down the back straight, and was playing catch-up from there.

He crossed the line seventh out of nine athletes, in 49.20 seconds.

"It was just a bad day to have a bad day," he added.

"But I keep saying, I can look back on myself in the past 12 months and say I have transformed.

"That is the most important thing in my life. I'm just such a much more positive person. I have such a better outlook on life than I did 12 months ago.

"It is life changing in terms of it's given me a new belief in myself.

"I think this is an ode to myself and not giving up. I really give a huge shout out to my coach since I was 18, Nick Dakin.

"He stood by me. He's really been embracing of the changes I've tried to make this year."

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