Sprinter Kieran Showler-Davis is confident his medal-winning heroics have gone some way to banishing his memories of an injury-plagued outdoor season.
Having pulled his hamstring in early May, Showler-Davis was unable to even attempt to qualify for his strongest event, the 200m, for the U23 European Championships at Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
Despite his individual disappointment, there was a large dose of collective celebration for the Basingstoke & Mid Hants ace – helping the 4x100m relay team to win silver on July 17.
As reported last week, Showler-Davis lost out on gold by five hundredths of a second to the Italian relay squad.
While revealing his initial frustration about missing out on the top spot and after nearly two months on the sidelines, the 19-year-old was ultimately left delighted with his first taste of international silverware.
“It was great to win a medal,” he said. “When we first crossed the line, I was a little bit frustrated that we hadn’t got the gold because it was so close.
“But when I had time to reflect on it I was really happy to have won a medal because it was still an international medal and it felt great.
“Missing out on running the 200m was frustrating for me with the injuries I have had, so to get a medal in the 4x100m relay was fantastic.
“I had to wait around a bit because the relay was on the last day of action, but it was still an amazing experience.
“There was a great atmosphere within the team and I was just as motivated for the relay as I would have been if I was running individually.”
The road to full recovery now awaits Showler-Davis and he will give his hamstring its most serious test yet in next weekend’s World Trials and UK Championships.
Showler-Davis will need to be at his best in Birmingham with the cream of British sprinting arriving in the second city hell-bent on securing their spot at next month’s World Championships in Daegu in South Korea.
And while acknowledging his lack of race sharpness at present, the Basingstoke ace’s goal for Birmingham is simple – to stay injury free.
“It will be nice to go up to Birmingham and compete at the trials,” said Showler-Davis.
“I should be okay to hopefully run well up there, but to be honest I’d just like to get through the weekend injury-free and just take every race as it comes.”
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