Andy Turner won a World Championship bronze medal on Monday, but had to go through an emotional rollercoaster to get it.

The European 110m hurdles champion needed to rely on progressing to the final as a fastest loser after a lacklustre semi and then fell just short of the mark when it mattered.

Turner had struggled to hide his disappointment after initially finishing one place outside the podium positions in a time that was well outside his recent personal best.

Coming home fourth in arguably the highest quality field of the entire championships should be seen as a positive but the European champion still felt downbeat and a little depressed.

But two hours after the race concluded, judges ruled that winner, Cuba's Dayron Robles, had impeded bronze medallist, China's Lui Xiang, and Turner saw fourth upgraded to bronze with Jason Richardson taking gold.

"Oh my god I've got mixed emotions - I don't know what to do. I want to cry, but I don't want to cry - I won't believe this is happening until I have got that medal round my neck," said Turner, who prepared for the World Championships at a training camp funded by Aviva - supporters of British athletes since 1999. “I've thought about this and dreamt about winning a world medal after my success in Barcelona last year but it was a big step and I just won't believe it until I've got that medal.”

After the Beijing Olympics, Turner was stripped of his lottery funding after a series of disappointing performances - a big blow he admitted gave him the inspiration he needed.

Running angry, he turned around his career - justifying that UKA head coach Charles van Commenee’s tough love policy can pay dividends.

However, he claims there is more to come, a nice position to be in one year out from next year’s London 2012 Olympics.

“I got a bit of cramp in the warm up area literally ten minutes before coming out onto the track and that didn’t help,” he added.

“It wasn’t anything major but when you’re on that start line you want everything to be perfect.

“It was on my mind a tiny bit, I was a little bit hesitant. I’ve proved I should be in contention at this level. Xiang ran 13.27 seconds, I ran 13.28 secs to win European gold last month.

"It’s a high quality event and the next 12 months are going to be interesting. There will be a lot of guys in contention in London; there is real strength in depth.

“I beat David Oliver; I don’t think he’s fully fit right now but for me to beat him, that’s a big thing.

“If you look at the start list there is no-one really you’re missing, it’s one of the strongest fields that’s been assembled for a long, long time.”

Andy Turner has been selected for the Aviva GB&NI Team at the World Championships in Daegu, Korea. Aviva's support, both at home and abroad, is helping the team prepare to compete at their best. To find out more, go to aviva.co.uk/athletics or follow us on Twitter @AvivaAthletics