It would not be the first time a world-class athlete has attempted to slip away unnoticed at 4am. However, this one is not leaving a nightclub, drunk and evading the paparazzi. Deta Hedman is simply doing what she’s always done, working hard for little reward and recognition.

Two nights after losing her third BDO World Darts Final, the player still ranked World Number 1 returns to her day job — a 10-hour shift in an annex of the vast Royal Mail warehouse called The Dungeon.

It is her sanctuary away from the constant whirl of the letter-sorting machines and workplace gossip and innuendo. A very long way from the Lakeside Country Club with all its glitz and razzmatazz.

At work, her only dart-board is hidden way in the dark recesses of a locker room.

It is here for 18 years, during her breaks, that Hedman has honed the skills that have brought her 91 ranking titles on a circuit which has taken her as far and wide as the mail she sorts.

Six foot tall and entering the stage to The Merrymen’s “Hot, Hot, Hot” with the presence and swagger of another Jamaican-born champion, Usain Bolt, the self-styled “Dark Destroyer” has won titles all around the world for 30 years, while holding down a physically demanding full-time job with the Royal Mail near Chelmsford.

She is a living legend of a sport often mocked but with a growing and loyal supporter base.

1.63 million watched the men’s final on BBC Two, as many as the average Premier League match on Sky Sports.

Yet the world-title continues to elude her. The adrenaline which sustained her during the week-long competition in Surrey drained away the moment Trina Gulliver nailed the match-winning double of a gripping five-set world championship final.

The thoughts of retirement that engulfed her following the disappointment and disillusionment of a first-round defeat last year were now replaced by a steely resolve to make amends next year.

Reaching the final means that the 56-year-old Hedman qualifies automatically for next year’s championship.

Her love of the game remains undiminished and keeps her coming back for more but finding the time to train is increasingly difficult.

Hers is a story repeated across the female sporting world, a struggle not merely against opponents but a structure which discourages her from pursuing her passion.

In 2005, Hedman famously became the first woman to defeat a man in a televised match. Unlike Billie Jean King’s 1973 victory in the infamous “Battle of The Sexes,” Hedman’s win came in a major tournament, the UK Open.

In that context, the gap between the £100,000 on offer to the male WDO world darts champion and the £12,000 to the female winner is staggering.

Had she had the prize money on offer to the men, Hedman would have gone on holiday to recharge her batteries before her next competition.

Instead it was back to The Dungeon to earn the money to fund her next stop on the tour.

Television coverage has brought greater exposure for the women in the sport, if not yet greater recompense. Deta will soon appear on BBC’s Pointless and Sport Relief as a sporting celebrity.

It is a shame that being a woman necessitates she has to maintain a separate full-time job rather than maximising the opportunities her sporting prowess deserve.