Newyddion
Another brilliant major Championship bronze for Melissa
05/03/2019 00:00, I Mewn Blog /
Melissa Courtney (Poole; Rob Denmark) produced another stunning performance as she won bronze in the Women's 3,000m at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Friday evening.
The Poole athlete added another major championship medal to her tally, having won bronze in the 1,500m at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018. Courtney is now the fourth fastest Briton over 3,000m, moving ahead of Zola Budd on the all-time list, and her time of 8:38.22 was almost five seconds faster than the Welsh indoor record and PB she set in Germany earlier this year.
With Laura Muir and Konstanze Klosterhalfen having opened up a clear gap at the head of the field going into the second half of the race, Courtney produced a hugely courageous run to hold off another German in the shape of Alina Reh and clinch bronze.
“I still class myself as a 1500m runner and I'm doing 5k's now as well, but I think 3k is the perfect one in the middle", said Courtney. "My coach says I need to be good at 1500, 3k and 5k, as they all complement each other. I’m looking forward to competing across all distances in the future.
“It did hurt, it was more like the last km was grinding, but we’ve been doing some tough sessions and I was going over them in my head on the last lap thinking I can do this!”
Having won two medals out of her last three major Championships, she'll have her sights set on even bigger and better things for the outdoor season as she targets another major final at the IAAF World Championships in Doha in September.