England looking to raise the British, and European, flag in New York

Great Britain's Hannah England will aiming to become just the second European woman in 13 years to win the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile in New York on Saturday.

British middle distance runner Hannah England will be looking to consolidate on her recent successes by becoming just the second European woman in 13 years to win the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile in New York on Saturday.

England's compatriot Lisa Dobriskey won in 2008 but the 2009 World Championships 1500m silver medallist has been the only European woman to win in the Big Apple for more than a decade.

“I'm going to enjoy New York, I want to do better than last year when I finished fourth (she also finished fifth in 2009) but I’m having a bit of a holiday there as well as racing. I definitely do intend to spend some of the $30,000 I won in Daegu,” commented England.

England surprised many people with her second place in the recent 2011 IAAF World Championships 1500m, with a thrilling run to go from seventh to second down the home straight, but the 24-year-old from Oxford, although she now lives in Birmingham, has shown increasing maturity on the big occasion and clearly has the talent to match.

This year she clocked a 1500m personal best of 4:01.89 at the European Athletics Outdoor Premium Meeting in Barcelona back in July.

She followed up that performance in the Catalan city winning her second consecutive British title over the distance before travelling to South Korea and enjoying the high point of her career

England then proved her ability again when she clocked 4:02.03 at the Samsung Diamond League final in Brussels last Friday, a race which contained 10 of the 12 finalists from Daegu.

“This was my second fastest time of the season, so I’m delighted with that to start with, but it was also a highly competitive race, a repeat of the World Championships I finished fifth but I was competitive again off the bend. Overall, I think it was an even better race to be part of than even the Daegu final.

“I think that was actually my best race ever after the World Championships final, it's certainly got a career second place in my mind even though I actually ran faster earlier in the summer,” she added.

Her targets for next year obviously include a fine performance at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, with many of her family and friends having only a short distance to travel to the Olympic Stadium in the east of the British capital.

However, she will also be aiming to get on the podium first at the 2012 European Athletics Championships, where she will be looking to improve on her 10th place last summer in Barcelona, when she made her British senior international debut.