Alex Bell believes newfound maturity can fire her to European success

Alex Bell believes her newfound maturity on the track can fire her towards a medal at the European Championships. The Leeds middle distance star successfully booked her place in Saturday night's 800m final with a polished performance in Munich. Ad Bell, 29, finished third in Friday morning's second semi-final after coming home behind Renelle Lamote and British teammate Jemma Reekie in a time of 2:00.53.

AthleticsAsher-Smith says European 200m silver does not reflect her fitness levels41 MINUTES AGO It proved a scrappy encounter at the city's Olympic Stadium and Bell, who finished seventh in last summer's Olympic final, says her experience on the circuit is finally helping her deliver. She said: «I think even though I have been racing for so long, it's only been this season now with every race I am doing that they're stressing me less when it gets bargy, clumpy, and trippy. »In the past, I have panicked at that point.

«So I am just conserving more energy because the more composed you are, the more energy you save. »I was side-eyeing other athletes down the straight but it was fine. I'm happy." Bell ran a brilliant personal best of 1:57.66 to produce the result of her career in Tokyo last summer.

But she's struggled with a stop-start 2022 campaign after an early season injury derailed her progress for the World Championships in Oregon. Bell finished seventh in her Eugene semi-final as teammate Keely Hodgkinson, who burst onto the scene with silver in Tokyo last summer, emulated those exploits on the world stage. The Yorkshire star then flew the Team England flag in Birmingham before preparing to draw her big championship season to a close this week.