Reed was upset by her performance in the 10,000m final in Beijing

A row has blown up between UK Athletics and British 10,000m runner Kate Reed over her performance in the Olympics.

Reed finished 23rd in the final and blamed her poor performance on UKA's insistence that she undertake a drugs and fitness test a day before the race.

The sport's governing body said Reed had an injury and had "intimated to at least two members of staff that she may take morphine to kill the pain".

But Reed, 25, told BBC Radio Bristol her comments had been misinterpreted.

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"I think I said words along the line of 'could you give me some morphine, perhaps that's the best thing. I could do with floating around the track'," said the Clevedon athlete.

"I never ever claimed that I was carrying morphine and the conversation in which it took place was a light-hearted one and it was quite harmless.

"If they have an issue I expect it to be addressed immediately and they should have immediately asked me about it. I said it in jest and assumed it was taken in jest but clearly it wasn't.

"I would never take a banned substance and was subject to six drugs tests in 10 days leading up to the Olympic Games."

Reed's accommodation was searched by British Olympic Association officials and she added: "I fully endorse the search and was quite happy to go along with it. It took two hours and the BOA staff found absolutely nothing.

"They reported back to UKA that they had found nothing but they then said they wanted to do another search which lasted another hour. At that point I felt I was being unfairly treated."

Reed's injury presentation was complex and descriptions of her injury symptoms varied from day to day. This inconsistency made her a difficult patient to treat A UK Athletics statement

Reed had said in the Bristol Evening Post that she felt the events leading up to the race wrecked her medal chances, and UKA responded to those comments in a statement which said: "There is a huge disappointment around her comments.

"There is little doubt this was far from ideal preparation, but much of these actions could have been avoided had the athlete been as open, honest and as professional as the medical staff involved throughout.

"The medical team dedicated a significant amount of time to this athlete including ultrasound scans by the BOA musculoskeletal radiologist in Macau on more than one occasion and an MRI scan before departing for Beijing.

"Her injury presentation was complex and descriptions of her injury symptoms varied from day to day. This inconsistency made her a particularly difficult patient to treat."

Referring to the "morphine" comment, the statement continued: "As a consequence of these comments and actions it was agreed that a Team GB security officer and an independent female witness accompanied the athlete to search her room for any banned substances or medications. Fortunately no such items were discovered."

UKA also asked Reed to take a fitness test consisting of a 2,000m track session which was to be run at 50% of B standard pace.

The statement concluded: "Had the doping test, the room search and physical test not taken place to satisfy the various concerns around this case, Team GB would have been sending an athlete to the start line of an Olympic final with serious uncertainties and grave doubts.

"At best, the athlete could have been causing herself serious long-term physical damage and at worst, may have been competing under the influence of illegal substances.

"Quite simply, this was a risk that both the BOA and UKA were unwilling to take."

But Reed said: "I have pushed this complaint through because I would like an apology and also an explanation from UKA as to why I was treated so badly.

"I hope I can put in a better performance at the London 2012 Games. This hasn't deterred me, in fact it has inspired me. I wouldn't put my trust in the governing body ever again and I will deal with my own problems myself next time and not involve anyone else."