MELISSA Courtney-Bryant has built on her strong start to the Olympic year with podium finishes in two races this June.

Having set a personal best for the 3,000m event back in February following altitude training in Kenya, Courtney-Bryant was unstoppable in the Spanish capital as she finished top of the pile out of 13 runners in a 1500m race.

Courtney-Bryant was the only runner to run a sub 4:04; finishing seven tenths ahead of home competitor Esther Guerrero.

The Poole AC star had started the month with a second-placed finish in Belgium, taking silver behind Australian Sarah Billings in the Night of Athletics held at the Stadion de Veen.

Having run a 4:06.60 in Belgium, Courtney-Bryan was able to shave off three seconds in Spain to claim first with a 4:03.50.

This leaves the Welsh star in good form ahead of this weekend’s Olympic trials set to be staged in Manchester.

Courtney-Bryant faces stiff competition from British record-holder Laura Muir, who won silver at the last Olympics in Tokyo.

Katie Snowden, Georgia Bell, Reeve Walcott-Nolan, and Sarah McDonald are also expected to be in contention for a spot in Team GB.

Trials will be hosted over two days, Saturday June 29 and Sunday June 30, at Sportcity in Manchester.