HEATHER Lewis says her European Championship campaign has crystallised her strategy for improvement after a disappointing morning in Munich.

The Haverfordwest racewalker finished 13th in Saturday’s 20km showdown as Greek star Antigoni NTrismpioti powered to gold ahead of Pole Katarzyna Zdzieblo and home favourite Saskia Feige.

Lewis, 28, clocked a respectable time of 1:35:36 – six minutes off the podium places – after struggling for stamina during the second part of the race.

The Welsh star plummeted down the pack during the final 10km but knows she couldn’t be clearer about what needs to be done to rectify that setback.

She said: “To be honest, I am pretty disappointed.

“I felt great at halfway but then after halfway I had nothing really to give, so I’m a bit disappointed in the way I felt.

“But the end result wasn’t as terrible as I thought, so it’s fine.

“It’s been great to be out here and representing Great Britain – it’s a privilege, I’m just a little bit disappointed.

“I’ve worked really hard on my technique and know when I get any cards how to deal with it, so that’s come a long way and I’m really pleased.

“I need to now try get a little bit fitter to be able to be stronger physically through the second half and to be able to push on and do a quicker second part.”

Lewis represented Team Wales at this summer’s Commonwealth Games where she battled to a fifth-place finish over 10km in Birmingham.

This week in Munich marked the first European Athletics Championships since Berlin in 2018, where Lewis was disqualified from the contest after just 6km.

She recovered from that setback to deliver a valiant display but in the men’s 20km event, British teammate Callum Wilkinson suffered the same fate as Lewis four years ago.

The Welsh star is no stranger to experiencing racewalking heartbreak in Germany and insists Wilkinson had medal potential if he’d kept himself in the race.

She added: “I really sympathise for him.

“At the last European Championships I was also disqualified and so I know how it feels.

“You never want to get disqualified, but it is all part of the sport.

“I really feel for him - I’m really gutted as he’s in great shape and it was so sad he was DQd.”

The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website.

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