Jade O’Dowda reckons her rock-solid European Championship campaign can lay the foundations for an international podium push next season.

The Newham & Essex Beagles star, 22, battled to a seventh-place heptathlon finish in Munich this week after a gruelling two days at the city’s Olympic Stadium.

O’Dowda bagged a bronze medal for Team England at the Commonwealth Games but was unable to live with the red-hot standard set by Nafi Thiam, Adrianna Sułek and Annik Kalin, who grabbed the podium places.

O’Dowda claimed victory with a leap of 1.80m in the high jump and says the confidence gained from her strongest disciplines – she also finished fifth with a personal best 2:12.03 in the 800m – can fire her towards a medal in the future.

“All the events were just solid," she said.

“I think with the performances I did, I am happy with seventh place after a good two days’ work.

“I had two really good events in the high jump and 800m, and everything else wasn’t really anything special, but wasn’t anything awful either.

“It was a personal best in the 800m and going into it, that’s what we set out to do.

“It was a good experience and hopefully one of many in future.”

O’Dowda kicked off her campaign with an impressive second-place finish in the 100m hurdles behind German home favourite Carolin Schafer.

Then came that brilliant effort in the high jump before rounding off the opening day of competition with seventh in the shot put and fifth in the 200m.

O’Dowda finished fifth in the long jump then ninth in the javelin before ending her championships in style with that defiant 800m run.

British teammate Holly Mills struggled to emulate O’Dowda’s consistency, languishing down the standings before eventually withdrawing ahead of the javelin event with a foot injury.

Mills, who narrowly missed out on a Commonwealth medal to O’Dowda in Birmingham, said: “To be honest, every event has not gone how I wanted it to.

“The hurdles didn't feel too bad, but it was slower than I thought it would be.

“In the high jump, I just struggled to get my rhythm together so that was a bit down.

“The shot put wasn't the worst as I was back over 13m, but it's still down on what I'm capable of.

“And in that 200m I just felt tired from start to finish, and I'm not entirely sure why.

“My body just wasn't reacting off the floor. So it was a disappointing way to end.”

*The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place from August 11-21 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.