By James Toney in Paris

Luke Nuttall admitted mixed emotions after running a season's best to finish sixth at the Paralympics.

The Lancashire athlete clocked 3:57.62 in a high-quality T46 1500m final and admitted the enormity of the occasion hit home after the most difficult year of his life.

Nuttall's father, Olympic athlete John, died last year aged just 56 and the 22-year-old nearly missed his second Paralympic appearance after suffering the worst injury of his career this season.

"It's been really tough but my Dad has been my motivation," said Nuttall, whose mother is Olympic athlete Alison Wyeth and stepsister is Team GB's Eilish McColgan.

"It's hard to process it after such a big race without being too overly emotional. I think I’m going to be frustrated because I feel like I was capable of running a time to get a medal.

"Those races are such a blur but it was a bit scrappy and I felt like I was playing catch up. I am a bit disappointed; it's been a tough summer and one point it was looking like I wouldn't even race, so I need to put it into perspective.

"I had my first big injury (stress response in femur) in April so with everything I've been through I can proud I got here because I know how gutted I'd have been to miss out.

"I missed two months of running, I didn't start running till June and after four weeks of training I did my race to qualify for here. At points it wasn't looking realistic so I have to be happy I got here but it's been tough with everything that has happened."

Double European medallist Nuttall made his Games debut as a 19-year-old in Tokyo but that empty stadium was very different from a capacity crowd at the Stade de France this weekend.

However, he was the second youngest athlete in the final, his future in the sport clearly bright.

"The competitor in me wants to be in the mixer for a medal, so I can't not think about that," said Nuttall, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

“That's the first time I've run in front of a crowd like that you don't get experience like this as a Paralympic athlete normally. It's hard to put a value on how good it was to get comfortable in a setting like this.

“I’ll be 26 in Los Angeles, I feel I'm ready to medal and by then I'll be pushing for gold. This has given me a lot of motivation.”

National Lottery players raise more than £30million a week for Good Causes including vital funding into sport – from grassroots to elite. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk