Published: Thursday, 18th June, 2009 11:24am

Hurdler called up for GB team

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PITREAVIE 400m hurdler Eilidh Child, who this week smashed her personal best for the third time this season, has been named in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for next week"s inaugural European Team Championships in Leira, Portugal.

The Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport-supported 22-year-old clocked an incredible 55.46 seconds in the Josef Odlozil Memorial Meeting in Prague at the start of last week.

That was an improvement of 0.06 seconds on her recent winning time in the Inter-Counties Championships at Bedford and more than one and a half seconds better than her best at the start of the season.

The time was also inside the UK Athletics A qualifying standard for the World Championships in Berlin.

In Prague Child finished second behind America"s Lashinda Demus but beat two Beijing Olympics finalists.

It was also her first opportunity of the season to compete against world class opposition and she rose to the occasion.

'The race last Monday was against brilliant competition and to go out and be among people that are world class made the difference,' she said.

'In my last couple of races I"d be into the home straight and coming to my last hurdle on my own.

'In Prague there were five or six girls right next to me with obviously the winner ahead so you really push yourself.'

Her form should make Child a strong favourite for next month"s European Under-23 Championships in Lithuania.

In the meantime she will find herself in the Portugal-bound GB & NI team, which includes Olympic gold and silver medallists Christine Ohuruogu and Phillips Idowu.

'It"s been an absolutely brilliant season for Eilidh,' said her coach Stuart Hogg.

'We had expected her to run fast this season but we didn"t think she would be running this fast so early in the season.

'She has exceeded all our expectations.

'The European Team Championships is for the top 12 countries in Europe, so this is the equivalent of the Premier League for athletics.

'It"s a great achievement for Eilidh to be selected for the team.'

Charles van Commenee, UKA head coach, said, 'We have selected every athlete purely on a performance basis and not on promise or potential. It is all about who are the best people for the job.'