Charlotte's World Best Posted 04 March 2010 LOUGHBOROUGH College runner Charlotte Best has revealed why her qualification for the world indoor championships in Qatar later this month is a “huge bonus”.

The talented 24-year-old wasn’t planning to take any part in the indoor season after undergoing an ankle operation in September  and sat out the national championships just a couple of weeks ago.

She explained: “My coach George Gandi told me on Thursday that someone had dropped out of the mile event in the last grand prix of the season at Birmingham on Saturday and asked whether I’d give it a go,” she said.

“I have been training very hard and knew I was in good shape, but didn’t know what to expect.”

Charlotte, a sports science student at Loughborough, actually finished last in a world class field but her time through 1,500m of four minutes 13.04 seconds was only just outside her personal best and enough to get her into the championships.

Being selected will earn Charlotte her first ever Great Britain senior vest, having previously competed at world student and junior levels, and she is greatly looking forward to the experience.

“I’ve still got some key training sessions to prepare for the championships before flying out on March 9, three days before the race.

“The 1,500m is being run in heats and my aim is to reach the final. I feel that I’m in good enough condition to set a new personal best. I’m sure it will be a very tactical race and I’ll need to respond positively to whatever is going on around me.”

Charlotte, who reports that her ankle is now fine, has set her sights on the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, in October as her main goal for 2010.

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