By Owen Morgan
Wales’ Olivia Breen claimed a bronze medal in the T38 100m at the World Para European Athletics Championships, despite suffering from a knee injury.
Breen, who won gold in the long jump for Wales at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, opted not to compete in the event in Berlin due to the problem.
However, she was fit enough to compete in the sprint, and finished third behind Great Britain team-mate Sophie Hahn, who claimed gold in a championship best time of 12.52.
Despite the injury, Breen clocked a season’s best time of 13.30 to claim the bronze medal.
After the race, the City of Portsmouth Athlete said: “It has been a bit of journey since the Commonwealth Games. I have had a bit of an injury with my knee and that is why I didn’t do the long jump.
“I have here been for ten days and I was saying to myself ‘come on, let’s go’ so I am so happy to finish on a high and get a medal.
Explaining the decision not to compete in the long jump, Breen added: “I thought it was best to be safe and think about the future.
“My knee is important for the long jump. It has been a bit up and down but I am so happy to finish on a high. I am really happy with my start, that was the main thing for me going into the race, and I am so happy to have done it.
“I am really excited for the next two years. Within the next month, my coach and I are going to sit down and put a plan together for the next two years and talk about Tokyo. That is the main goal and I am so excited about it all.”
There was further Welsh sprint success as Laura Sugar helped Great Britain qualify for Sunday’s final of the universal 4x100m.
Sugar, who has already won two bronze medals at the championships, said: “It was really fun, a bit hair-raising because our practice was the warm up. The warm-up went well so we were quietly confident.
“It is nice to be part of a team, I am from a team sport originally so it was a really nice feeling. For me I was done on Wednesday and, yes it is good to come back and watch people, but I really wanted to get back out there.
“It is amazing to have that other thing to focus on. It is a complete bit of fun and we were told to go out there and enjoy it and I think we did.”
There was disappointment for Steve Morris in the T20 men’s 1500 metres final as he finished fourth just 24 hours after finishing in the same position in the 800m final.
The James Thie coached athlete said afterwards: “It was a battle. I got pushed a couple of times. I went a bit too soon with 250m to go, I should have waited a bit. I got pushed a bit on the first lap and second lap and last 150m and lost my rhythm a bit.
“I wanted to stay in second and third and stay relaxed as possible. It is just the sprint I have been lacking on. The strength is there, I just haven’t got the speed in the legs at this distance.
“I am going to focus on the 1500m and 5,000m next year. I am going to go up a distance and that will be a good challenge. I thought I had it at 250m, I hadn’t gone too quick even though it was quite windy. It is just tough out there racing against world-class athletes.”
Despite narrowly missing out on the podium in both finals, the Cardiff AAC athlete was in positive mood looking forward.
” I have had a good season, ran personal bests in the 1500m and 10,000m and am getting stronger. I have to look at the positives,” added Morris.