11:40am Thursday 5th August 2010
Marilyn Nwawulor admits she was under-par at the World Junior Championships but the Harrow youngster has vowed to right her Canadian wrongs at next year's European equivalent.
Nwawulor, 17, headed to Moncton confident of making the 100m final having lowered her personal best to 11.65 seconds at the world trials in Bedford in June.
But those dreams were dashed at the semi-final stages in Canada as Nwawulor, given an unhelpful draw in lane two, could only manage 11.95 on her way to fifth.
That meant the St Dominic's Sixth Form College pupil could only watch on enviously as fellow GB star Jodie Williams marched to the gold medal in the final.
But despite the setback Nwawulor insists she learned a lot across the pond and has vowed to use that experience to fire her to European Junior Championship glory.
"It was really tough out in Canada and I had to work really hard because everyone was running really good times," said Nwawulor, who is part of the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes scheme.
"My personal best should have been enough to get me into the final but my semi-final was tough. "I need to sit down and decide properly when this season is over but I really enjoyed the experience and I think I want to go and do the heptathlon next year now."
Nwawulor is now planning a low-key end to the season as she sets her sights on her 2011 campaign and a busy winter training regime.
"I really enjoyed the experience in Canada and it was definitely good for me," added Nwawulor.
"Everything was different with it being a different time, country, weather and atmosphere so it was all new."
Lloyds TSB is providing awards of £1,000 to over 270 emerging young sportspeople identified each year across Britain, in the run up to London 2012 and beyond. Visit Lloydstsb.com/Localheroes
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