Meadows happy with top-three finish

World championship bronze medallist Jenny Meadows was satisfied with third place in the 800metres at the Aviva British Grand Prix in Gateshead.

Meadows finished third in Berlin earlier this month and could yet be upgraded to a silver medal following the gender investigation into champion Caster Semenya of South Africa. And the 28-year-old from Wigan admitted her exploits in the German capital had taken their toll as she finished third behind British team-mate Jemma Simpson and surprise winner Christy Wurth-Thomas of the United States.

"I ran the race of my life 12 days ago and it's been a tough week," Meadows said. "I've been run down and ill with swollen glands and a cold and on Friday I didn't think I was going to be able to make it. But I really wanted to be here and I'm relieved to finish in the top three. It's as good as I could have hoped for."

Jessica Ennis, winner of the heptathlon in Berlin, could only finish fifth in the 100m hurdles, an event she also considered contesting in the world championships.

"That was okay, not brilliant to be honest, a bit slow," said Ennis, who finished 0.4 seconds behind winner and world champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica.

"It's nice to finish off this year, I can't put into words how brilliant this year has been.

"It's tough to peak for a championship and then get back into training. I'm looking forward to a holiday now and then getting back into winter training in October."