Glasgow 2014: Sophie Hitchon hopes to follow up hammer bronze

Hammer thrower Sophie Hitchon is targeting more major medals after winning Commonwealth bronze in Glasgow.

Hitchon, who was born in Burnley and is now based in Loughborough, claimed the first senior medal of her career on Monday with a throw of 68.72m.

"It comes down to tweaking tiny things and changing things slowly," the 23-year-old told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Hopefully in the next years it will all come together and I'll be pushing for medals at major championships."

Hitchon reached the Olympic hammer final at London 2012, eventually finishing 12th, before winning the European Under-23 title in Finland last year.

Sultana Frizell of Canada, who won gold in Glasgow, threw more than three metres further than Hitchon's best effort, which came in the sixth and final round of the competition at Hampden Park.

However, with her experience of major events growing and time on her side, the former ballet dancer believes there is much more to come.

Hitchon took Commonwealth bronze behind Canada's Sultana Frizell and Julia Ratcliffe of New Zealand

"In my event, I'm still very young," continued Hitchon. "Hopefully I'll have another 10 years in the sport.

"I've been doing this for quite a while now and it gets to the point where there's only so many things you can work on. It is the small things and it can be so close but so far away at the same time.

"Hopefully it will click really soon. I know I have it in me to throw a long way."

Speaking about her bronze medal, she added: "It still feels a little bit surreal.

"I was a little bit disappointed. As an athlete, I'm always wanting the best that I can and I didn't quite do that.

"But to come away with a bronze medal, I'm ecstatic about that. My aim coming in was to get a medal and I've done that so I'm really happy."

Hitchon has been selected for the Great Britain team that will compete at next month's European Championships in Zurich.