Martyn Rooney cut a downbeat figure after crashing out of the 400m semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships.

Rooney, an Olympic finalist just three years ago, has not enjoyed a season to remember and admitted he was lacklustre after placing a distant seventh, clocking a pedestrian 46.09 second time that was well outside his best.

But he insists all is not lost as he looks forward to a winter of solid training in preparation for London 2012.

And he still believes an upgrade on his Beijing sixth and even a podium place is possible.

"It’s a season I’d like to forget but so was 2007 and then I had a good Olympics," said Rooney, who prepared for the World Championships at a training camp funded by Aviva - supporters of British athletes since 1999. "I’ve actually done better than I did in 2007 so fingers crossed it will go well next year now.”

Rooney has been off colour all season and only earned his Daegu call-up by virtue of previous performances.

He has spent this summer working hard to improve his speed, although a season’s best of 45.44 seconds - set against a personal best of 44.60 secs - means it will be back to the drawing board this winter.

“The simple answer to how it went is that it was terrible, I didn’t qualify from an easy semi-final, I let myself down and let the people that work with me down,” he added.

“I think I was just too relaxed, I was trying to get back to a rhythm that had worked for me in the past where I relax in my running and try and not overcook the bend.

“But in doing so I was just too relaxed and left myself a lot to do, well I was well off the pace when I got to the home straight.”

Its 20 years since Great Britain famously won the 4x400m world title in Tokyo with a quartet that included Olympic medallists Roger Black and Kriss Akabusi.

Those were golden days for one lap running in the UK but Rooney is not giving up hope of ending the championship on a high in the relay.

“I’ve got the relay later in the week now, we’ve got quite a young team so hopefully a few guys like me can pull our finger out and then hopefully as a team we can come together and run well,” he added.

“The 4x400 is always very open and the potential is there to win a medal. It’s not going to be as cutthroat as it normally is with America normally miles ahead.

“This year they are beatable, very beatable.”

Martyn Rooney has been selected for the Aviva GB&NI Team at the World Championships in Daegu, Korea. Aviva's support, both at home and abroad, is helping the team prepare to compete at their best. To find out more, go to aviva.co.uk/athletics or follow us on Twitter @AvivaAthletics