Rising 1500m star Steph Twell insists she finally belongs alongside the globe’s finest middle-distance runners as she prepares to kick-off her World Championship campaign in Berlin next week.

The 19-year-old, who celebrates her birthday next Monday (August 17) just 24 hours before her 1500m first round run in Germany, is convinced she can now mentally as well as physically compete on a level playing field with the likes of world number one Maryam Yusuf Jamal.

Twell has long since been tipped for the top after being named European Athletics Rising Star of 2008.

She also landed the 1500m title at last year's World Junior Championships and is a three-time winner of the European Cross Country Championships junior women's race.

Such junior accolades don’t necessarily guarantee senior success, just ask the likes of fellow Team GB star Christian Malcolm, but for the last few years pundits and former British internationals alike have already been hanging the London 2012 Olympic gold medal around her neck.

But for the time being at least Twell insists she’s just content just to be rubbing shoulders with the world’s finest 1500m stars.

“I can’t say what is going to happen but my aspiration is to make the final without a doubt,” said Twell, who ran 4.03.48 minutes in Monte Carlo last month.

“In Beijing last year I was bitterly disappointed not to make that final because my time overall was 11th fastest if you exclude the second head where they ran ridiculously slow to qualify.

“So that has inspired confidence in me to know that I am in good shape and I can do well in Berlin.

“Last year I wasn’t really familiar with the big names and I had probably only raced against them once or twice.

“Now I have raced the world’s best a lot and hopefully they are feeling my presence a bit more in races as well which is good.

“I am definitely getting stronger and I don’t want to be feeling other girl’s presences. I want them to be feeling mine and they are looking out for me and thinking about me.

“Rather than thinking I am stepping up to a stage that I have never been on before it’s now a stage that I know well and I am starting to accumulate a lot of experience at.”