Mamie Konneh-Lahun was last seen crossing the finish line at The Mall but did not return to her temporary accommodation in the Greenwich area, where she is thought to have been staying since arriving in the British capital on April 7.

The 24-year-old, the fastest 5,000 and 10,000 metres runner in Sierra Leona, won both her home marathon and the Liberia Marathon last year.

She finished yesterday's marathon in a time of 2 hours 46mins 20secs.

Konneh-Lahun was a part of the unratified non elite runners group, of which she finished seventh, giving her an overall place of 21st when included with the 14 elite women running at the London Marathon. 

She was supposed to be flying home today but has not been seen since completing the 26.2 mile distance, with no sign of her at the temporary accommodation despite police putting out an appeal.

Detectives looking into her disappearance say she has no known link to Britain and does not have a mobile phone.

Mamie Konneh-Lahun finished a respectable 21st in the women's race of the London Marathon ©Getty Images

The disappearance comes after a number of athletes went missing during London 2012, with more than a dozen looking to claim asylum.

The same happened during the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where 20 members of the Sierra Leone team went missing before the end of the Games.

Theses occurrences are not new in sport with one of the most famous cases taking place during the Melbourne 1956 Olympics when half the Hungarian delegation defected to the West after the Games.

Meanwhile, 42-year-old Robert Berry died after collapsing on the finish line of the marathon.

After being treated by four consultants at one of the marathon's medical facilities he was transferred to St Mary's Hospital but his death was confirmed upon arrival.

Organisers of the marathon have expressed their condolences to the family and friends of the man, adding: "We would like to emphasise that our immediate concern is for the family of the deceased."

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with them at this difficult time."

The fatality is the first to occur at the marathon since 2012 when 30-year-old hairdresser Claire Squires, from North Kilworth, Leicestershire, collapsed a mile from the finish line and died later from cardiac failure.

She was raising money for the Samaritans and in the week after her death donations to her fundraising website jumped from £500 ($836/€605) to more than £1 million ($1.67 million/€1.21 million).

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