by Tom Oldfield in Berlin

Lisa Dobriskey kept her balance and her head to book her place in the 1,500m semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships.

The 25-year-old, who finished fourth in the final in Beijing last summer, had to be alert to dodge tumbling Kenyan Irene Jelagat but recovered her composure to finish third in a time of 4.07.90 minutes.

And Dobriskey, who boasts a personal best of 4.00.64, relied on her big race experience to help deal with the chaos.

“There was some real drama out there - I noticed the girl in front of me had fallen and I was just grateful to stay on my feet to be honest,” she said.

“But I’ve been in that position before when you lose a shoe or someone falls and I know it can play with your concentration and take a lot out of you.

“I just tried to regroup, forget it and get back into the race. I think I stumbled a little but she didn’t clip me – I was able to dodge her and then kick on.

“I was so nervous before the race because these heats can be so dramatic and they never follow the personal bests on the startlists.

“There’s very little to choose between the top athletes and there’s always a bit of elbowing.

“I was happy with my run. I knew it would be a really quick heat and I saw a few girls going off a bit too soon.

“I just tried to judge my effort carefully and I stuck to the mentality that I needed to be in the top four to qualify and that then gave me some security. I like to play mind games with myself!”

• Aviva has been the team behind UK Athletics for over a decade, supporting the Aviva GB & NI Team both at home and abroad. Please visit aviva.co.uk/athletics to find out more.