Nikki Hamblin gave it everything in the 1500m semi-finals, finishing sixth in the second and slower of the two semi-finals.
Hamblin recorded 4m 10.96s. The first five in each semi-final along with the next two fastest times went through to the final. The other two fastest times came from the first semi-final.
"That was close," said Hamblin coming off the track.
"I'm really happy with that, on paper I was the slowest runner by five or six seconds, so I'm happy, I was really worried I'd be left behind. Championship racing it was slow and I could use my speed at the end. I nearly got there, I'm pretty proud that I nearly got there," she said.
Hamblin finished 17th overall in the competition.
"I was close to that top 16," said a delighted Hamblin.
"I came here and my goal was the 800m and to switch that goal was quite tricky. I had a few days between the heats and the semis.
"The physios have done an amazing job with me, sorted my back out so I can actually run, I can actually get up on my toes," she said.
"I was determined I was just not going to let go the back of those girls, I was not going to let them run away from me, I think I ran a pretty good tactical race."
Hamblin nows heads back to New Zealand and her next race will be running for Cambridge in the Redwood Forest relay in Rotorua.
