CHARLOTTE Williams finished just outside the medal positions in the Under-20s hammer throw competition at the European Championships in Sweden last weekend.

Williams' throw of 61.24 metres put her in fourth place - just 75cm away from a bronze medal against athletes three years her senior.

Her first throw in Sweden went a distance of 61.01m and that was enough to see her go through to the final, where the British number one was agonisingly close to a podium finish.

Qualification for the championships was secured back in June at the National U20s competition in Bedford as Williams won the competition to grant automatic qualification.

Williams was not downbeat about the just missing out on a medal in Sweden, instead she was pleased with her performance at the championships: "Finishing fourth in the European championships in what was my first year in under-20s is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

"I had to compete against some of the greatest hammer throwers in the world, as well as all the top throwers in Europe.

"I went into the competition ranked seventh in Europe, so finishing fourth is a dream.

"I am so happy with my performance at such a big championships like this and would like to thank everyone who has supported me over the past few days and everyone who tuned in to watch me on TV.

"Also, I'd like to say thank you to my coach, my parents and Blackburn Harriers who have supported me in one of the hardest years of my life.

"It's onwards and upwards from now and the next stop is the British Championships."

Taking home the gold medal in the competition was Ukranian Valeriya Ivanenko as she threw a distance of 65.83m for the win.

In the silver medal position was German hammer thrower Samantha Borutta with a distance of 63.53m.

Hungarian Zsanett Nemeth threw 75cm more than Great Britain's Williams in order to secure the bronze medal - throwing a distance of 61.99m in the final.

Williams' Great British team mate, Charlotte Payne, finished three places behind the Harrier in seventh as she managed a distance of 59.61m to finish inside the top 10.