AN emotional Hayley McLean has won gold at the European Junior Athletics Championships in Italy.

The 18-year-old, from Stanford-le-Hope, lived up to her tag as pre-race favourite by storming to victory in the 400m hurdles in an amazing personal best time of 57.26s.

And afterwards the Chelmsford AC athlete admitted to being overcome by her success.

"It's a really emotional situation," she said. "I can't believe I won. I was feeling good before the race and I'm proud to have won for Great Britain.

"I ran 200m as fast as possible and I just tried to hang on for the second half of the race."

The win caps a remarkable year for McLean.

The teenager has bounced back from missing out on selection for the World Junior Championships last year by dominating nationally and now winning her first major international title.

"I was selected for the World Youths in 2011," said McLean. "But this is the first time I packed my bag for a championship like this and was thinking about a good final position."

McLean's winning time was the third fastest by an under-20 in UK history.