ERME Valley Harriers’ Will Battershill claimed a second successive World Athletics Continental Tour medal by finishing third in the 2,000m steeplechase at the Memorial Borisa Hanžekovića gold meeting in Zagreb.

His success in Croatia followed on from also picking up a third place at the Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Hungary the week before.

Battershill’s performance in Zagreb over the rarely run 2,000m distance has certainly raised his international standing.

The BUCS champion not only smashed his PB, running 5:26.91, which puts him 12th on the UK all-time list, but he also beat some high-quality opponents.

The race saw Olympic and world steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali attempt to break the world best for the 2,000m. The Moroccan ended up missing out but did set the third fastest time ever for the distance with a 5:14.06 run.

Italian Leonardo Feleto took second in 5:23.15, with Battershill holding off Swedish Olympian Emil Blomberg by 0.02 of a second to claim his best international result to date.

Meanwhile, the final Armada Summer 5k Series run takes place at Saltram House on Wednesday (7pm).

However, due to work on the riverside path, September’s run will take a slightly different route and not run along the river. Full details can be found HERE.

At September’s Run Exe Summer 5k, Tavistock’s Sam Lake finished as first female in a PB time of 18.52 seconds.