JESSICA Judd has revealed her ambitions on the track next summer were one of the main reasons she opted not to run in the European Cross-Country Championships.

The 16-year-old gained automatic selection for the European Championships in Slovenia in 11 days time after coming second in the under-20 women’s trial race in Liverpool.

But the Canvey teenager had made up her mind even before racing the trials that she would not be part of the Great Britain team heading to Velenge.

Instead Judd intends to continue repeating her successful cross-country season from last winter, something that laid the foundations for a remarkable summer which peaked with her bronze medal in the 800m at the World Youth Championships.

Judd, who is a student at King John School’s sixth form, said: “I really enjoyed the cross-country season last year and I’m sure it helped me with my track season. So I thought I’d repeat that this year and stick to doing just the regional and national events.

“Plus the championships are in Slovenia which is a bit of a way to travel. It’s also close to Christmas and I’ve got a lot of school work on at the moment. I’ve got A-Level exams to prepare for in January.

“I had talked about it with my coach Jeremy (Freeman) and said several weeks before the trials, at the national road relays in Mansfield, that I would not be going and I hadn’t changed my mind.

“After the race in Liverpool a few people asked if I had changed my mind, but I had made my decision.

“To be honest, I find cross-country tough. I just want to get through the season without too much difficulty and without getting injured. It’s a big year next summer.”

Judd was delighted with her run at the trials in Sefton Park, Liverpool, and happy to erase the memories of the same race last season.

On that occasion, the Chelmsford AC teenager, then aged just 15, went off too fast in the under-20 women’s race and ran out of steam.

This year she ran a more considered race and split the silver and bronze medallists from this year’s European Junior 5,000m championships Emelia Gorecka and Annabel Gummow.

“I was so nervous beforehand because I had what happened last year in the back of my mind,” said Judd. “I got a bit carried away last year because I was racing against the older girls and I went off too fast and ended up collapsing.

“I thought I planned it a lot better this year. Both Emelia and Annabel are good at 5km on the track so they’ve probably got a bit more endurance than me. I tried to go with Emelia when she went but she put about 60m into me and I could never close that gap. I was happy with result though.”