British Indoor 3000m champion on an emotional bronze medal in a race which saw Germany record a 1-2<\/h5>\n
Melissa Courtney-Bryant might\u2019ve been the first British athlete to claim a medal at the European Indoor Championships but it won\u2019t be the last time you\u2019ll tire of her inspiring comeback.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, she was ruled out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics because of a foot injury, which left Courtney-Bryant\u00a0on crutches and devastated that she couldn\u2019t attempt to qualify for what would\u2019ve been her first Games.<\/p>\n
She watched the 2021 European Indoor Championships at home on the TV in a boot and could only cheer on her fellow friends from the sofa.<\/p>\n
If 2022 was a settler of a season \u2013 Courtney-Bryant finished 31st and 24th in the 1500m heats of the World and European Championships \u2013 then 2023 is the year she stamps her foot down and makes a mark on the international stage once again.<\/p>\n
She had already proved a point by becoming British 3000m champion for a second time in Birmingham at the UKA Indoor Championships last month.<\/p>\n
Melissa Courtney Bryant celebrates (Getty)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Now, Courtney-Bryant has gone one step further and added a second European indoor medal after the bronze she claimed at Glasgow 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s so much sweeter than last time,\u201d\u00a0Courtney-Bryant said, referring to her medal back in Scotland four years ago. \u201cIn 2019 I was over the moon to get a medal and so happy. This one feels really emotional because I\u2019ve come through two really hard years of injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone who\u2019s supported me through this, it\u2019s meant so much and to be in the shape again to be fighting for championships medals means so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time last year I wasn\u2019t training on the track and not fit enough. I\u2019ve come a long way. Two years ago I was watching this event at home with crutches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtney-Bryant\u2019s time of 8:41.19 in Istanbul wasn\u2019t that far off her season\u2019s best of 8:41.09, set at the speedy Boston track at the New Balance Grand Prix back on February 4.<\/p>\n
Her ultimate aim for the 2023 season is to lower her 3000m outdoor record of 8:39.20. The fact that was recorded at the Alexander Stadium in 2018 shows how far Courtney-Bryant has come to get near those times once again.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/3000m-podium-.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe 3000m podium in Istanbul (Getty)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Such is her mindset, Courtney-Bryant wanted more of herself in a race which saw a German 1-2 as Hanna Klein shocked\u00a0Konstanze Klosterhalfen \u2013 European 5000m champion, world 5000m bronze medallist and German record-holder from the mile up to the 10,000m \u2013 with a stunning kick down the final 100m. Klein, a bronze medallist in this competition from 2021, recorded a personal best of 8:35.87 in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a little bit disappointed as I know I\u2019m in PB shape and there is a sub-8:40 in me, Courtney-Bryant added. \u201cThere were always going to be nerves at a championships race and but I\u2019ve been out of being competitive for two years. So I think it\u2019s about getting myself out there again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll have a few easy days and then it\u2019s back to training. I\u2019ve got a few miles to train for with 5km and 10km work-outs and then I\u2019ll open my season with a 5km. We\u2019ll play it by ear which one [5km or 10km] I end up running.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow Brit Hannah Nuttall finished fifth in the 3000m and was delighted with her personal best of 8:46.30.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with a personal best in the championships, especially after the heats and such a pushy race. That\u2019s worth a couple of seconds more. I can\u2019t be disappointed with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started off really pushy and it was quite slow at the start. The two Germans just went after two or three laps and then it really sped up. It was all a bit of a shock and then we got rolling. The first few laps, I just tried not to go down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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