By Will Jennings in Munich

Resurgent racewalker Bethan Davies believes the magical Munich crowd helped propel her to her best-ever finish at a major international championships.

The Cardiff star delivered a battling display to finish 11th in Tuesday morning’s 35km event at the multi-sport European Championships.

Davies, 31, clocked a valiant time of 2:59:38 on a boiling day in Germany as Greek star Antigoni Ntrismpioti grabbed gold.

She said: “It’s the highest I’ve ever finished in a competition like this, so I’m over the moon.

“It was really good support today – I didn’t feel like there was any point where it dropped off.

“There was lots of British support, which is really nice.

“The race walking community is a very tight-knit community so people from all countries cheer you on, which is a really great atmosphere.

“The heat definitely ramped up - it was okay to begin with as we started so early and the course was in the shade, but definitely in the second half.

“I was working really well with one of the Spanish girls up to about halfway and then she picked it up and I had a bit of a wobble in the middle.

“But then I seemed to have a bit of a second wind as other people started to feel the heat, so I picked a couple of people off.

“Sometimes in conditions like this you have to go with how you feel.”

The women’s race got underway at 8:30am in Munich before the mercury started to rise throughout the morning and make for punishing conditions across all sports.

Athletics is one of nine sports holding their European Championships in Munich this week as triathlon, gymnastics, cycling and rowing also feature on the 50th anniversary of the city hosting the Olympic Games.

Davies is a veteran of the British racewalking scene and bagged a brilliant Commonwealth Games bronze medal on the Gold Coast in 2018.

That result came over 20km and she’s now determined to do the ‘double’ in 2023.

“I want to review my season now,” she added.

“And then I’d really like to double – do a 35km and a 20km at a major championships.

“I probably need to figure out how to plan my season so I can get the qualifying marks for both.

“I’m definitely looking forward to a good break now though because it’s been a busy old year!”

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