St Mary’s University’s Charlie Grice says his fifth place finish in the men’s 1,500m final at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Prague last Sunday was a significant step in the right direction.

In a frantic last lap the 21-year-old British indoor champion made a stern push for the podium places, but ended up clocking a personal best of three minutes 39.43 seconds to finish outside the medals.

Home favourite Jakub Holusa overtook Turkey’s Ilham Tanui Ozbilen in a straight sprint to the finish line in 3:37.68 sparking jubilant celebrations among the sold out O2 Arena crowd.

Grice’s fellow British team-mate Chris O’Hare ran the race of his life to claim the bronze in 3:38.96.

“I’m a bit disappointed as I was so close but I’m happy for Chris [O’Hare],” said Twickenham-based Grice.

“It’s tough to do back-to-back races in two days but it’s still significant progression coming fifth.”