Shaunagh Brown celebrated her inclusion in England’s Commonwealth Games squad by throwing a personal best at the weekend.

The Gillingham gas-fitter hurled the hammer 66.85m at the Folksam Grand Prix in Gothenburg to break her previous best of 66.06.

The 24-year-old had qualified for next month’s games in Glasgow after comfortably making the B-standard distance but, with selection already secured, she then broke the A-standard on Saturday.

Brown, also a reserve for the shot put, said: "I had already been selected but that was a nice way to top it off. It was a great confidence boost for me ahead of the games and I managed to find four metres in one competition.”

It was on her final throw that she achieved a PB to claim second place in the event. She is still some distance behind favourite Sultana Fritzell, but hasn’t ruled out returning with a medal.

Canadian Fritzell has already thrown 75m, while fellow England hammer thrower Sophie Hitchon is primed for a silver, with a personal best of 72m.

“The bronze medal is what everyone else is going for and it’s wide open,” said the former lifeguard.

“I was buzzing at the news when I was told I had qualified but I had to tell my parents to keep it a secret. My grandad’s on facebook and I had to tell him not to post anything!”