SUPER Sophie Hitchon twice broke her own British record on her way to a fourth-placed finish in the women’s hammer final at the World Athletics Championships in China.

And the Burnley star believes her stellar showing in Beijing can only be a positive as she builds towards the Rio Olympics next year.

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Hitchon, who qualified in eighth spot for the final, improved the British record with a throw of 73.65m.

And she broke the record again later in the competition to record 73.86m and miss out on the podium by just 16cm.

The Blackburn Harrier, who was 12th in the London 2012 Olympics, was delighted with her performance.

She said: “I was agonisingly close to a medal but coming fourth is really good. I had a rough year last year and I am super happy with it.

“As an athlete it feels hard – because fourth is the agonising place but honestly I couldn’t have done anything more.

“Two national records, two PBs in one competition – I loved it out there and it bodes well for the future.

“I was in ninth and I could have been caught but I brought it in the third round. I try not to think what the opposition is doing, I try executing my technique.

“If I do that know I am going to throw far and I know that today, I have been training really well and my technique has been there.”

Her fourth place was the best performance by a British woman in the heavy throws events at a World Championship.

Hitchon, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist last year, opened up with a 71.20m throw before improving that by 24cm in round two. Then came her first national record, 73.65m, before throws of 71.06m and 72.10m meant she went into the final round sitting in fourth place.

And the 24-year-old saved her best until last when she launched a 73.86m throw and cemented her place in the history books.

Poland’s world-record holder Anita Wlodarczyk took gold with a championship-record throw of 80.85m, beating home favourite Wenxiu Zhang (76.33m) into second. France’s Alexandra Tavernier was third, with 74.02m.

Meanwhile, Christine Ohuruogu’s bid for a third world title ended in disappointment as she came home last in the 400m final with American Allyson Felix storming to gold.

And Katarina Johnson-Thompson bounced back from her heptathlon disappointment by leaping into the long-jump final.