By Owen Morgan

Melissa Courtney-Bryant edged ever closer to the Welsh 1500m record as she smashed her personal best at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting on Sunday afternoon.

The Poole AC athlete slashed more than a second-and-a-half off her previous best which she set winning a 1500m bronze medal for Wales at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Courtney-Bryant clocked a new best of 4.01.81 in Sweden as she finished third behind European silver medallist Laura Muir, who set a new world lead time of 3:57.86.

The 26-year-old is now less than two seconds away from adding the Welsh 1500m record to her 3,000m and 5,000m national bests.

Amazing new P.B. of 4:01.81 and 3rd for @mcourtneybryant at the @Diamond_League in Stockholm. That was on 🔥🔥

Results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/l04xzToQLy

— Welsh Athletics (@WelshAthletics) August 23, 2020

The Welsh 1500m record stands to Hayley Tullett, who clocked 3.59.95 to take the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.

Courtney Bryant is in outstanding form this year having won the British indoor 3,000m title in Glasgow in February.

Earlier this month she showed that form had been transferred outdoors despite lockdown when she produced a front-running masterclass at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland to win in a time of 4:03.69.

Courtney Bryant’s latest outing at the Diamond League was run in blustery conditions as Muir pulled away from a world class field with a blistering last lap to win by some 30 metres.

But the Welsh athlete led the chase alongside fellow Great Britain international Laura Weightman, who just managed to hold on for second place on the line.

The result saw Courtney-Bryant finish ahead of the likes of two-time 5,000m world champion Hellen Obiri, of Kenya, and World Championship 1500m bronze medallist Shannon Rowbury, of the United States.