Seasoned campaigner Clitheroe's relief at Berlin ticket

BRITISH steeplechaser Helen Clitheroe has admitted her relief at securing her place at next month's World Athletics Championships

RELIEF: Helen Clitheroe will be heading to Berlin for another major championship, after finally achieving the steeplechase qualifying standard (Getty Images for Aviva)

Seasoned campaigner Clitheroe will be confirmed in the Berlin-bound team tomorrow after finally running the qualifying standard at last weekend's Aviva Grand Prix in London.

And the 35-year old admitted she feared age would finally count against her.

"It's just a massive feeling of relief that the hard work has paid off," she said.

"I was feeling a lot of pressure because I'm well aware of what the situation is.

"I'm 35 years old and I know the selectors wouldn't be that keen on sending me to Berlin if I'd only got the ‘B' standard.

 "But I went into it not worrying about what anyone else was doing and went for it myself.

"The primary objective was to get the A qualifying standard and I'm really glad I did it."

Clitheroe - who appeared her Olympic debut in Sydney nine years ago - is refusing to discuss whether Berlin will be her final international appearance,

"It has taken a while to get into my stride this season," she added. "My training has gone really well so I wasn't sure what was going on but it's great to put things right like that.

 "Hopefully I can move on to Berlin now and get even better there."

However, Clitheroe's 9.34.66 season's best is a long way off the world's elite as more and more nations take women's steeplechasing, still a fledgling event at world level, seriously.

Spain's Marta Dominquez leads the world rankings with a 9.09.39 time set in Barcelona last month while Clitheroe is ranked 34th in the world this season.