STEVE Lewis vowed to learn the lessons of his Berlin adventure after missing out on a medal in the pole vault final at the World Championships.

The 23-year-old cleared 5.50m and 5.65m with his second attempts before three failures at 5.75m brought his medal bid to an end, placing him joint seventh.

But Light Oaks' Lewis, who injured his ankle on his penultimate jump, admitted he would use the experience as a launch pad for the next few years.

"I'm really inspired coming away from this championships and having been part of it was a great experience," he said.

"It's satisfying to get this far in the event and be chasing season's bests and personal bests in the final.

"Obviously getting those would have been the dream ending for me, but it didn't quite happen I'm afraid.

"But I can take real confidence from this and I know I can be competitive against these guys. Hopefully in a year's time I can be even more competitive.

"I was disappointed with my second attempt at 5.75m. I just twisted my ankle as I took off from the floor and I was unbalanced going up.

"Then I wasn't sure if I needed a bigger pole for the third jump – but I decided not to change.

"I managed my best jump of the year on that third attempt – so it was frustrating that it was on the wrong pole. It's something else to learn from.

"I'll take away a lot of positives and I'll be looking to add 10 or 15 centimetres to what I'm jumping now and that should help with the next step."

Lewis failed to register a jump in his World Championships debut in Osaka two years ago and suffered the same fate in Beijing last summer.

But he admitted there was plenty to build on during a busy 2010, when he will look to improve on the outdoor personal best of 5.72m that he registered in Germany earlier this month.

"I need to sit down now and have a think about what I am going to do next," he explained.

"The year ahead is pretty busy and I'm really excited about preparing for it.

"I'll be looking to get to the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games – I'll come back strong."

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