Barrhead high jumper David Smith admits anything else this year will be a bonus after he achieved his goal of qualifying for the European Championships in Berlin next month with a silver medal at the British Athletics Championships in Birmingham.

The 26-year-old was in fine form recently, clearing a personal best height of 2.26m to secure second place – which cemented his place in the Great Britain squad heading for Berlin.

His 2.26m PB was the same height cleared by eventual winner Chris Baker to take gold in Birmingham which will allow him to compete at the Athletics World Cup this weekend but, after missing out on that spot due to needing one more attempt at a lower height, Smith still insists there is nothing but positives to take from the result.

He said: “I was delighted with my result and performance in Birmingham. It has been my aim all year to jump the height to qualify for the European Championships in Berlin so to do it at the trials and place top two was almost a perfect scenario.

“High jump can be an annoying event sometimes, though. I missed one bar at 2.23m and that was the only difference between me and Chris Baker as we both cleared the same height of 2.26m. That means I just missed out on competing at the Athletics World Cup in London this weekend but hopefully now, after that jump in Birmingham, bigger competitions will open up to me. That height shows that I can perform at the top level.”

After booking his spot for Berlin, Smith’s attention has now turned to building on his excellent form, with the Scot now sourcing a number of competitions in the remaining weeks to keep sharp.

He added: “I’ve got four weeks until the European Championships now so hopefully I can jump even higher before then.

“I met my coach last week to sit down and discuss what our plan is now. The first stage was obviously qualifying and now that is secure, it’s all about getting to Berlin in the best possible shape.

“I’ve got the Cork City Games in Ireland next week and a competition in Sweden the week after, which will give me some continuity leading up to Berlin.”

Smith has had the honour of representing Scotland twice at the Commonwealth Games but the European Championships next month will be the first time he competes for Great Britain in a major event.

And Smith says his achievement is something of a relief after struggling with injury and funding cuts over the years.

He said: “This will be my first time representing Team GB at a major competition. I did the European U23s but this will be my first senior event and it’s a big achievement. I’ve been training for years for this, so to finally do it will be almost a relief.

“I’ve had some tough times with injuries, funding being cut and struggling to find a job away from athletics. It now seems like one competition and one result and everything is rosy – everything is looking up. I’m finally injury free.

“It’s all about keeping this momentum now. I know I can do it and I know I can do the heights.”