Melissa Courtney-Bryant believes she’s well on the way to banishing her injury demons despite her early exit at the multi-sport European Championships in Munich.
The Poole athlete was unable to qualify in her 1500m heat as she came home 10th behind teammate, Commonwealth champion and race winner Laura Muir.
Courtney-Bryant, 28, clocked a time 2.71s slower than Muir’s impressive 4:06.40 as the demands of a busy season took their toll.
The south coast star was gutted not to progress but insists hard work away from the big stage is gradually starting to reap rewards.
She said: “That’s not what I wanted - I really wanted to qualify.
“But I’m coming back from injury and I missed a lot of work in the winter.
“I think that is showing now, my general fitness and strength.
“I was right there with 300m to go but unfortunately my legs went.
“I’m really proud that I put myself out there and gave it a shot today.
“I committed and went for it but it didn’t pay off.”
Courtney-Bryant’s time of 4:09.11 at Munich’s Olympic Stadium left her 1.91s off the qualifying pace as Italian Ludovica Cavalli, Swede Hanna Hermansson and German home favourite Katharine Trost chased home Muir in the other positions needed for progression.
Not to be for Melissa Courtney-Bryant.
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) July 16, 2022
Her campaign comes to an end after finishing 11th in Heat 3. #WhereItStarts #WorldAthleticsChamps #WCHOregon22 pic.twitter.com/zOUxjqP8XF
Courtney-Bryant finished second at June’s British Championships in Manchester – behind Muir – before failing to advance through her heat at the World Championships in Oregon.
She grabbed a tenth-place finish at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham before the same position in Tuesday’s heat was not enough to fire her into Friday’s final.
Courtney-Bryant, who bagged 1500m bronze on the Gold Coast at the 2018 Commonwealth Games before European indoor 3000m silver the following year, added: “Unfortunately, I raced quite fast in June and since then all the championships haven’t quite gone my way.”
The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website
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