Laura Muir claimed Great Britain’s first medal of the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, winning bronze in the 1500m.
Faith Kipyegon of Kenya came first with a time of 3:52.96 while Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia came second, but Muir ran a season-best 3:55.28 to finish on the podium.
It marked the end of Muir’s quest for a world outdoor medal after several near-misses, finishing fifth, fourth and fifth in her last three attempts.
It also came after the Scot suffered a stress reaction to her femur in her right leg in February which left her on crutches.
Muir, who won a memorable silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, said that the absence of a world medal had been “bugging” her.
“I am so delighted. It was all about this, that was what I wanted,” Muir, 29, said. “I took my time trying but I am so, so happy I got it. This time last year I didn’t have any global outdoor medals and now I have two.
“This was the one that was bugging me. After I got the silver last year, I was like ‘this is the year I am going to get it’ and I’ve got it.
“Better late than never, having to wait so long makes it feel even more special.”
But there was disappointment elsewhere for Britain as Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the defending champion in the heptathlon, finished a lowly eighth.
Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium took Johnson-Thompson’s crown, recording a personal best of 2:13.00 in the 800m to claim her second world title after Johnson-Thompson had beaten her to gold in 2019.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Thiam won with a final score of 6,947, ahead of the Netherlands’ Anouk Vetter and the United States’ Anna Hall.
Johnson-Thompson, who has been plagued by injuries, will look to put her poor performance in Oregon behind her at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she will hope to mount a successful title defence.
Dina Asher-Smith gave Britons more reason to cheer as she qualified for the 200m semi-finals in a time of 22.56 seconds.
Asher-Smith said she was “gutted” after finishing fourth in the 100m final on Sunday despite matching her British record of 10.83 seconds, but this was a comfortable start to the defence of her 200m gold medal from 2019.
Meanwhile, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce had to adjust her distinctive turquoise wig in the middle of her 200m heat, but the Jamaican did not break stride as she cruised into the semi-finals.
The 35-year-old, who claimed a fifth world 100m title on Sunday, raised her right arm to fix the hairpiece and kept on running, crossing the line in 22.26 in second place.
Information from Reuters was used in this article.
