INTERNATIONAL new girl Stacey Smith admitted she had lessons to learn after her big race debut at the European Indoor Championships.
Gateshead athlete Smith needed to finish in the top two of her 1500m heat in Paris but came home in third – and her time of 4.11.95 was not enough to progress as one of the fastest losers.
“That didn’t go very well for me and it’s really hard to put my finger on why,” she said. “I thought that I got my tactics right and followed my plan but it didn’t work out for me. I wanted to stay with the top four and not get dropped all the way through and I managed that and I was feeling comfortable on the way around.
“It felt like I wasn’t overdoing it and that there was enough left in me for the closing stages but my kick wasn’t there.
“This is my first major international senior competition but I didn’t feel overawed at all and it wasn’t a case of the pressure getting to me.
“There are some positives I can take from this. I had barely run a 1500m before coming here. All I was focusing on was 3000m and 5000m and so I know that with a few more under my belt then I should get a lot better in the summer.”
Smith is determined to keep her progress steady. She is targeting the European under-23 title as her priority although an injury to training partner Steph Twell could open up another senior championship opportunity in Korea.
“I know that there’s a lot of work to do before the summer but that serves as motivation for me,” added Smith.
“It’s very sad news that Steph Twell is out for the season but it also leaves a whole in the British team and that’s something I want to take advantage of.” Germany claimed two of the three gold medals on offer on the opening day.
Ralf Bartels and David Storl made it a German one-two in the shot put, minutes before Carolin Nytra won the tightest of finishes in the women’s 60 metres hurdles.
Nytra and Britain’s Tiffany Ofili were given the same time of 7.80 seconds after an incredibly tight photo-finish, Ofili setting a new national record for the second time in three hours.
Norway’s Christina Vukicevic was third in 7.83secs, also a new national record.
Nytra said: “This was such a great race. My coach told me this race will be won in the finish and he was right. At the start I saw the shot putters with our national flag and said to myself ’This is a sign for me’.
“My time is awesome, only 0.07s from the national record. Running the race felt great, although it could have been a little bit more fluent at the finish.”
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