GEMMA Kersey has revealed she was in her “own little bubble” while running in the Olympic Stadium on Sunday night.

The 20-year-old Basildon AC athlete finished fourth in a personal best time of 9m 10.48s in a top-quality 3,000m field in the UK Athletics elite race at the stadium.

And that was enough to see her rocket into the top ten of the senior national rankings.

“I was so hyper-active beforehand,” said Kersey, who is coached by Eamonn Martin. “Eamonn was trying to calm me down saying I’d waste too much energy.

“And then, on the start line, I was literally shaking, but as soon as the gun went I went into the zone.

“I blocked out the crowds, the noise, the fact it was the Olympic Stadium. I was just in my own little bubble.”

For Kersey, coolness on the big occasions is becoming something of a trait.

She ran superbly over the winter to claim 16th place in the European Cross-Country Championships on her Great Britain debut just a month after winning on her England debut.

“I feel like the bigger the occasion the better I run,” Kersey said. “I just shut everything out and can’t hear anything apart from my own little voice!

“It was not until about three laps to go that I really switched on.”

Kersey ran a 2m 56s last 1,000m and a 67 final lap to knock about 20 seconds off her personal best and was just inches away from beating European Junior Cross-Country champion Emelia Gorecka for a top three finish.

“I’ve never got that close to Emelia before so I was really happy,” said Kersey. “I was just lacking that little bit towards the end but I was really happy.”