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Britton is presented with her bronze medal. Dave Thompson/PA Wire/Press Association Images
European Indoor Champs

'Medals are so hard to get. It's something special' - Britton

The Kilcoole AC runner won bronze in the 3000m final in Gothenburg this afternoon.

FIONNUALA BRITTON COMES away from her first European Indoor Championships having added a bronze medal to her ever-growing collection.

The Irish Olympic runner travelled to Gothenburg to compete in the 3,000m as part of her preparations for this month’s World Cross Country Championships in Poland.

Having gone into the event claiming a top three finish in the finals would be a “bonus”, the 28-year-old ran an exceptional race this afternoon to clinch third.

After the 12 runners were called back due to a false start, Britton found herself at the back of the pack second time out but had moved up to seventh by the halfway mark and with one lap to go found herself in fourth.

Over the final 200m, she made up a remarkable amount of ground to catch the two runners ahead of her, Corrinna Harrer of Germany and Russia’s Yelena Korobkina, and was just pipped to the line by the latter – finishing in a time of 9:00.54 with Portugal’s Sara Moreira taking gold.

Speaking to Will Downing after the race, Britton said: “It’s so hard to explain. Medals are so hard to get. It’s something special.

With about 400m to go I was thinking I’m either second or fourth here so to come third is like ‘Oh!’. A medal is a medal and I’m happy.

“There were four of us there and the last place you want to be is fourth so to get one of the others is great really. Because we were so close, everyone would have been wishing for second. Moreira had it tied up (in first place).”

Added to her recent wins in Budapest, Edinburgh, Antrim and Athlone, this latest success sees Britton in terrific form heading to Bydogszcz for the World Cross in three weeks’ time.

Listen to the full interview with Will Downing on Soundcloud here

Brilliant Britton takes bronze at European Indoor Championships

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