In the inaugural championships, in Turkey, Davison threw a personal-best of 50.11 metres to finish third. The winning throw was 55.88m, and second-place was 54.78m.

Davison's husband, Eric, said: "Jo did herself, and us all, proud.

"She has struggled with injuries and some bad health over the last two years, and her confidence has been really low, so to fight back and pull out this result is fantastic.

"The past few months have been very hard for her as nothing has gone to plan.

"Coupled with the expectations on her to do well, as she is the current Deaflympics gold medallist, the nerves were starting to take hold over the last few weeks.

"But she has done remarkably well to overcome these, and to put in a performance of this nature."

It was the first time Davison had thrown over 50 metres, and she also managed a personal best in the discus event.

Davison had thrown 41.60m, at the third attempt, to win the Deaflympics gold medal in Melbourne, Australia, in 2005.

Since then, she had thrown 48.36m, which was a European and World record. And, in Crystal Palace in 2006, she threw 49.97m.

The next Deaflympics are in Taipei, in Taiwan, from September 5 to 15 next year.

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