Eurosport - Mon, 31 Aug 18:37:00 2009
Sprint hurdler William Sharman insists there is plenty more to come after following up his breakthrough performance at the World Championships by finishing second at the British Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old former decathlete was edged out by world bronze medallist David Payne of the USA in Gateshead by just 0.01 seconds, coming home in 13.61.
In Berlin, Sharman more than justified his late inclusion in the Great Britain squad by storming home in fourth in 13.30 - a new lifetime best.
And Sharman insists this is only the beginning of what he is convinced will be a long and successful career.
"It's been a great season so far," he said. "I always come into form towards the end of the season but I was really pleased with my performance.
"I had demons to deal with coming out to the blocks - I had a lot of negative thoughts that I had to get rid of before the race started.
"But it was a strong performance in front of a home British crowd - I love competing on home soil.
"It was difficult because I could feel David Payne coming on my shoulder and unfortunately he just pipped me - but he's a great athlete and a great performer.
"And I'm sure I'll have my chance to get the better of him in the years to come."
Meanwhile, 2004 Olympic champion Shawn Crawford took 200m victory in Gateshead and he avenged his fourth place in Berlin - edging out compatriot Wallace Spearmon in 20.80 and Great Britain's Marlon Devonish, who was third.
And Crawford revealed he is already plotting how he can compete with Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt in 2010.
"After Beijing and after Berlin it's been tough," he said. "We all spend all year training for major championships and then Usain Bolt comes out and does what he does it makes us all the more determined to work even harder in training and think about how he can be caught."
In the 100m hurdles, world champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton picked up from where she left off in Berlin, storming to victory in the north east, before admitting her life has been changed by her exploits in the German capital.
"After training so hard for Berlin and then managing to win, the biggest thing you notice is there's a massive difference between coming first and coming second," she added.
"And I'm getting used to dealing with the fuss that people make over you and realising that there's pressure on you to perform - so I'm pleased to win here."
Elsewhere, British long jumpers Chris Tomlinson and Greg Rutherford had to settle for fifth and sixth, with leaps of 7.93m and 7.80m respectively.
World champion Dwight Phillips took victory with a new stadium record of 8.39m.
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