The Müller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham is set to welcome more than 50 global medallists to Arena Birmingham on Saturday, February 16.

Olympic, world and European medallists will be on show for fans to see go head to head at the sold-out event at Arena Birmingham which will be live on BBC One between 13:15-16:30.

Britain’s European 1500m champion Laura Muir competes in the women’s mile with an eye on Kirsty Wade’s 31-year-old British record of 4:23.86. Following her victory at the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships over 3000m and her Scottish indoor record over 800m in Torun, Muir’s race will be one of the highlights of the meet.

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha’s was just 0.01 seconds outside the world indoor mile record in at the Millrose Games in New York last week, and his next race on the track will be greatly anticipated as he goes over 1500m with Hicham El Guerrouj’s 22-year world indoor 1500m record of 3:31.18 under threat.

Among the Olympic champions in action are Rio 2016 double gold medallist Elaine Thompson and Katerina Stefanidi who will feature in highly competitive women’s 60m and women’s pole vault fields respectively.

Thompson takes on the reigning European Indoor champion, Asha Philip, who claimed the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships title last weekend – her tenth national title in total – and double world medallist Marie-Josée Ta-Lou.

Furthermore, five 2018 world indoor champions return to the venue including Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera over 1500m, in addition to Kejelcha and Stefanidi, and men’s and women’s long jump champions Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba and Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic.

World number two in 2019 following his 6.53 clocking in Berlin two weeks ago, Reece Prescod goes in the men’s 60m, taking on world indoor silver medallist Su Bingtian of China. Newly-crowned British champion Dominic Ashwell and second-place Adam Thomas will have a last chance to chase European Indoor championship qualifying times.

The action will be televised live on BBC One from 13:15 – 16:30, while the full start lists can be found here.

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The post Laura Muir among 50 global medalists set for Birmingham appeared first on Fast Running.

It’s fair to say indoor athletics isn’t the grandest draw for the masses, but the recent four-day World Indoors was a fine opportunity to showcase a niche form of athletics.

The likes of Usain Bolt, Mo Farah and David Rudisha have consistently left us with a sense of awe and wonderment on the outdoor. Whilst the indoor version is no less exciting and demanding in terms of skill, nerve and physical prowess, it remains something of a niche.

There were stunning records at these championships, but the memorable ones were for the wrong reasons. And 27 disqualifications (DQs) later, for individuals and teams, the general public is left wondering just what actually happened in the Arena Birmingham?

This year’s DQ rate more than doubles the previous peak from 2013 which was also happened to be held in Birmingham.

Americans were up in arms at the perceived singling out of their athletes, in particular, the disqualification by “overzealous” British officials of medal hope Paul Chelimo.

Fellow USA athlete Colleen Quigley, who experienced a disqualification for stepping on the inside line at London 2017, didn’t hold back with her opinion of the officiating.

“I don’t know if they are just out to get people? If they have fun DQ-ing people? But it is brutal out there,” she said after her 1500m heat on the second day in Birmingham. “They are just crushing people for what seems like no reason.

“We are barely able to warm up. The first time we were able to get on the track was today and the curves are extremely steep so I can see how people are falling on the inside.”

The unforgettable DQ moment of these championships came in men’s 400m heats when every athlete was disqualified, a first for the sport and Quigley further commented: “These 400 guys don’t know where to cut in because they haven’t been able to get on the track beforehand. It’s ridiculous.”

What was your DQ highlight?

For athletes, spectators and viewers at home the level of disqualifications was definitely excessive, and in some instances quite farcical. However, while it’s easy to have a go at the “overzealous” officials, they made no mistakes. It’s their job to digest the rulebook, observe the chaos and enforce the rules.

“It all seemed about fair to me,” says former GB international James Thie, who finished fourth in the 1500m indoor final in Budapest 2004. “Our officials are the best in the world, and they’re just doing their job, often in their own time.

“We stick to the rules but do other countries?”

And that’s where the spike (no pun intended) in statistics becomes a little easier to comprehend. The previous DQ peak was 13 at the 2003 hosted Birmingham competition. Comparatively, the British are very good at sticking to the rules. However, when it comes to the IAAF rule book, perhaps a little too good.

This particular debate throws up a complex trade-off between the objective and subjective. Rules try to be factual, humans aren’t robots, and indoor running is frantic. Elbows and tactics have always been a core part of track running, but on a tight, leaning indoor track, there’s a lot more going on.

“It’s part of indoor racing that there’s a bit of physicality to hold your position,” explains Thie. “Plus every track is different, in terms of material, cambers, the angle at which the bend becomes the straight. It would be good if the rules recognised the potential of each track.

“Lane infractions are a tough one, but if you know the rules then stay in your lane. Aren’t you better running at 98% and staying safe? It’s black and white, but perhaps the rules need updating as we don’t want to see the top guys DQ’d before a final. You get to a point where you could DQ the whole field.”

Remarkably, this happened in Heat 3 of the 400m as previously mentioned. It was an event that never managed to shrug off controversy through the competition. In the final, the Czech Republic’s defending champion Pavel Maslak was upgraded to gold after Spain’s Oscar Husillos and Dominican Republic’s Luguelin Santos were both judged to step out of their lanes.

The decision was greeted with boos around the arena, and you can sympathise.

“In the 400m, you see Husillos run sub-45, but how much advantage did he really get?” asks Thie. “Pavel Maslak doesn’t cross the line and feel like a world champion does he?”

In a physical 800m final, USA had another call to arms when silver medal placed Drew Windle was disqualified for obstruction after contact with race winner Adam Kszczot.

Great Britain’s Elliot Giles was subsequently moved up to bronze. With an appeal launched and four men waited by the podium, Windle was reinstated after much deliberation. “I think common sense prevailed with Windle,” comments Thie.

Herein lies the challenge facing athletics. Did 100% of these infractions clearly affect the outcome of the race? There’s no evidence to suggest so. All we’re left with is a blur between fact and opinion, which in turn begs for discretion. Besides, stepping over the curb after a loss of balance is rarely a major benefit anyway.

What’s the solution?

It’s not the rules that need a tweak, more the punishments. In the heat of a manic race that’s squashed into a busy schedule, the kneejerk red card does feel harsh.

One wrong foot can scupper years of training and preparation, so introducing more flexible penalties may be a compromise that respects the rules and the athletes in equal measure.

A false start in a motorcycle race and you have to come back through the pits. You’re still in with a chance of winning – it just becomes harder. Moving blocks back or adding time penalties could be a way of modernising the sport without damaging the level playing field.

“The rules just need a minor update to give discretion to athletes,” says Thie. “I hate seeing athletes DQ’d and when we’re trying to sell the sport to the general public it’s sad to see some headlines being written for the wrong reasons.

“I also think with indoors, it’s very much a niche and a bit of an unknown. Our runners get well versed in the rules from an early age, whereas in some countries indoor track is not a national sport and there are no indoor facilities, so they come to an event like this and are in at the deep end.”

Another challenge is applying a standard set of rules to indoor tracks that vary in their make-up. Some are made of concrete, others wooden boards. The height of the camber differs between tracks, whilst the interaction between the bend and straight varies too.

Add to that the pandemonium of runners folding into the inside lane, elbows flying in all directions, and it’s a melting pot of intensely difficult decisions required instantly.

Birmingham’s indoor track and the officials

Does Birmingham’s wooden boards offer more spring? Is the height from the bottom of the camber to the top greater than other indoor tracks? Or was it simply a case of more inexperience and therefore more mistakes by athletes in the pressure cooker that is indoor running?

Whatever the answers, the officials can’t be blamed for the spike in DQs. Rules certainly are rules, but when the best person doesn’t necessarily win every time, it appears the priorities might be a little skewed, and the sport is in need of a little fine-tuning.

Indeed there were many positives from these championships. Take nothing away from Christian Coleman for a blistering championship record of 6.37 in the 60m. Laura Muir continues to put a smile on our faces after securing a magnificent medal double, as did Katerina Johnson-Thompson and Andrew Pozzi with their golden moments.

And who expected the Polish 4x400m world record?

In conclusion, there was nothing sinister going on in Birmingham. No mistakes were made.

However, for the marketing of the sport, this was a gilt-edged chance to attract a new audience and widen the appeal. Instead of doing that, the public is left confused and frustrated, and that will remain the overriding public sentiment.

The post What the D**Q happened at the World Indoors? appeared first on Fast Running.

Below is a quote from the Athletics Ireland high-performance people.

“To achieve our High Performance vision of ‘more athletes winning on the world stage’, Athletics Ireland has set the selection criteria and philosophy for the 2018 European Athletics Championships, where a Team/Individual(s) selected to compete, will be expected to be capable of obtaining a top 6 (team finish) or top 16 (individual finish). Criteria for European Championships Achieving a Performance Standard gives no right or guarantee of selection.”

In plain English – if you can’t make the top sixteen in your discipline, you’re not going to get picked for an Irish team because all we’re interested in are potential medal winners. And even if you make the qualifying standard, we don’t have to pick you.

Let’s get back to World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, which were pretty underwhelming from an Irish point of view. The selection criteria for this competition have now disappeared from the Athletics Ireland website but was probably much the same as the above. So were those standards in any way met?

Coming closest was athlete of the moment Phil Healy who performed well and finished third in her 400m heat in a time of 52.75 which saw her progressing as a fastest loser.

She was allocated lane 1 for the semi-finals, usually a bad draw but in this case proving a bonus since so many of the athletes drawn on the steep outside lane struggled to stay inside their lines on the bends and ended up disqualified.

Healy managed a time of 53.26 secs, half a second slower than in the heats. She benefitted from a disqualification to finish 3rd in her heat so just one place off the final and 12th fastest overall.

Ireland’s other great hope was Ciara Mageean, but she looked distinctly off form in the 1500m semi-finals finishing well off the pace. This continued a worrying trend which saw Mageean dropping out of the European Indoor 1500m final in Belgrade last March and then trailing home 13th in her heat at the World Championships in London.

In Birmingham, she never looked convincing in the third of three semi-finals, trailing home seventh in 4:11.81, which put her 18th overall. In January she had run over two seconds faster – 4:09.47 – to qualify for Birmingham.

So what’s going on? Mageean had a brilliant junior career, taking silver for the 800m at the 2009 World U18 Championships, and for the 1500m at the World U20 Championships a year later. She seemed set for a stellar senior career but injuries brought her close to quitting.

Under the careful guidance of coach Jerry Kiernan, she slowly found a way back winning bronze for 1500m at the 2016 European Champions. She also came close to the Irish 800m record with a time of 2:00.79 and ran 4:01.46 for 1500m that year.

Since then, it has been a mixed bag while she combined physiotherapy studies with training. A rare highlight last summer was victory in the 800m at the national championships in Santry although her time of 2:04.06 was nothing special.

Last November, her studies complete, she left Dublin for Manchester and the life of a professional athlete under the guidance of Steve Vernon. Her next major outing is the Commonwealth Games next month, where she will hope for a return to form.

In the 60m sprint, neither Amy Foster nor Ciara Neville progressed from the heats Foster, aged 29 and with five Irish titles to her credit, finished fifth in in the second heat in 7.35 secs.

It was well off the Irish record of 7.27 secs she set last month in Abbotstown. On the plus side, she was ranked 31st of 52 athletes in the event and ended up 28th. “It’s not a bad run. It’s just not what I was looking for,” she admitted after.

For Neville, who at 18 is eleven years younger than Foster, her first world senior championships proved a baptism of fire. In her heat, she ran a time of 7.47 for seventh and ended up 37th of 47 starters.

Her best for 60m this season was 7.34 secs, slower than the 7.30 secs she ran last season to qualify. Whether she should have been running in Birmingham at all is open to question. On the positive side, Neville is only starting her senior career and with luck will make many more major championships.

Last to compete for the Irish was hurdler Ben Reynolds, a late selection for the team. No big surprise then that he finished seventh in his 60m hurdles heat with a time of 7.89 secs – his best this season is 7.87 secs. That put his 29th of 37 starters; again, should he have been sent?

Unlucky not to be picked was long jumper Adam McMullen. His season’s best of 7.99m would have put him firmly in the Birmingham top 16 – indeed that distance exactly would have given him the seventh place behind Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria with 8.46 in one of the most entertaining competitions of the championships.

By any standards, the Irish performances – with the notable exception of Healy’s – were disappointing. No athlete ever lines out in any race aiming to do badly but of the current crop of Irish athletes, only Thomas Barr seems capable of producing the goods at the big events when the nerves start to jangle.

So why is this? Is the pressure too much? Is making an Irish team the height of their ambition? Is an emphasis on winning underage medals causing burn-out and injuries? Does any fault lie with the team managers? Or how overseas trips are organised?

And finally, after the last few days, are we prepared to admit that, as a nation, we are possibly more comfortable as happy losers? Was Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure raising an upside down Irish flag one of the best moments?

Top marks for improvisation pic.twitter.com/Z5umFebVlL

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 3, 2018

In fairness, battling snow and storms to make Birmingham this week was far from ideal preparation for a World Championships. Still, it didn’t seem to affect Laura Muir, who manages to combine demanding veterinary medicine studies with competing at top level in athletics.

Muir asks a lot of herself. Maybe that’s what makes her tough.

World Indoors Birmingham – Irish results
Women’s 60m
Ht 1, 7 Ciara Neville 7.47.
Ht 2, 5 Amy Foster 7.35.
Women’s 400m
Ht 5, 3 Phil Healy 52.75q (9th fastest).
SF 3, 3 53.26.
Women’s 1500m
Ht 3, 7 Ciara Mageen 4:11.81.
Men’s 60m Hurdles
Ht 2, 7 Ben Reynolds 7.89.

The post Should Ireland be happy with showing at World Indoors? appeared first on Fast Running.

The pair nominated by their teammates as co-captains going into the championships brought the curtain down in style for Britain on the final day of action in the Arena Birmingham.

Pozzi had a great start of out blocks in the men’s 60m final, but as did USA’s Jarret Eaton who held his lead until the final hurdle where GB’s Pozzi just got in front to pip his rival to gold by one-hundredth of a second.

The 25-year-old won in 7.46, with Eaton settling for silver in 7.46 and French athlete Aurel Manga taking bronze in 7.54.

“My heart stopped at the end there,” Pozzi said winning the first medal for the British men. “I knew the fifth hurdle I was behind. I can’t describe how much I wanted it.

“I was throwing my body at the line. To be voted co-captain for the championships is the biggest honour of my life. Every member of the team has been perfect.”

In the women’s 800m final Oskan-Clarke found herself fifth of sixth athletes at 400m, but once in fourth place, showed great determination to overtake Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu in the closing stage and crossed the line in a personal best 1:59.81 for bronze.

The 28-year-old is now the sixth British woman to run under the two-minute mark indoors.

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba won gold in 1:58.31, with USA’s Ajee Wilson running a personal best for silver in 1:58.99.

Jake Wightman finished 6th in the men’s 1500m final in a time of 3:58.91, with Chris O’Hare eighth in 4:00.65. The 1500m gold was won by Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera in 3:58.19.

While in a slow 3000m final it was an Ethiopian one-two, with Yomif Kejelcha getting the better of 18-year-old Selemon Barega in 8:14.41 to 8:15.59. Bronze went to Kenya’s Bethwell Birgen in 8:15.70.

Elsewhere, following a DQ for Jamaica women’s 4x400m relay team, the GB’s quartet of Meghan Beesley, Hannah Williams, Amy Allcock and Zoey Clark were upgraded to bronze – only for it to be taken away after another DQ was handed out for obstruction. The drama wasn’t finished and after a successful appeal, the result stood to secure another medal for Britain.

With the curtain coming down on the World Indoor Championships, Great Britain won seven medals in total consisting of two golds, one silver and four bronze.

The post Superb gold for Andrew Pozzi at World Indoors appeared first on Fast Running.

Now leaving Birmingham with two world indoor medals, Laura Muir’s £1,500 taxi ride down from Scotland seems like very good value indeed.

Muir, who won bronze on Wednesday night in the 3000m, was back on the start line with gold and silver medalists Genzebe Dibaba and Sifan Hassan, the latter the defending 1500m champion.

After being denied a silver by Hassan, with many viewing Muir to have been impeded, the double European indoor gold medalist had the perfect opportunity for an alternative ending in the shorter distance in the Arena Birmingham.

With the field of 10 starting out at a slow pace Ethiopia’s Dibaba moved to the front to inject some pace and went through 600m in 1:49.

As the race progressed and Hassan and Muir on the leader’s heels, it was soon clear we would witness the three same athletes on the podium once again – and it was just a battle now for positions.

With 400m to run it was Hassan in second and Muir third, however, the British 3000m champion had a determined look of intent and after manoeuvring past the Dutch athlete, she was not going to relinquish second and held on to cross the line and clinch silver in 4:06.23.

Dibaba completing a 1500 and 3000m double in 4:05.27, with Hassan taking bronze in 4:07.26.

“I’ve finished 4th, 6th and 7th in world finals before so to win two medals this time around is amazing; it is about time,” said Muir afterwards after her fantastic performance. “I was so focused on the race and the people in front of me that I wasn’t even focusing on those behind me.

“I used my strengths and made the moves in the right places. I knew I had to build it up but react when I had to. I just tried to take my time and not panic.

“I was very close to silver in the 3000m so I knew I just had to go for it this time. I knew if I made the right moves, I could get another medal, and improve on the bronze.”

Eilidh Doyle got the evening session off to a winning start for Great Britain winning bronze over 400m with a great performance, while Zoey Clark finished sixth in her first individual world final.

Ther was also a bit of controversy with Elliot Giles in the 800m, who for an hour was awarded the bronze medal after American Drew Windle was disqualified. However, following an appeal, the original result was reinstated.

The evening came to a close with an American double in the 60m and 60m hurdles. Christian Coleman set a championship record 6.37 to win men’s 60m gold, just short of his own world record set last month. While Keni Harrison won her first ever world title in the women’s 60m hurdles.

The post Laura Muir storms to world indoor silver in Birmingham appeared first on Fast Running.

With the top two automatically qualifying from each of three 1500m heats and the next three fastest across all heats, it proved a rollercoaster opening round for Great Britain’s Chris O’Hare, while Jake Wightman looks in great form ahead of Sunday’s final.

Chris O’Hare was first up in the Arena Birmingham and the stacked field in heat one included USA’s Ben Blankenship, Moroccos’s Abdalaati Iguider, Ethiopia’s Aman Wote and Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski.

Starting slowly the pace eventually sped up, but O’Hare looked of sorts and appeared to be struggling with his recent foot injury finding himself trailing behind his four main rivals. At the bell, it was a race between the top four for positions with 2012 indoor champion Iguider taking the first qualifying spot in 3:40.13 along with 2014 silver medalist Wote.

America Blankenship was third, Poland’s Lewandowski fourth and GB’s O’Hare fifth in 3:42.46. At that point, the Scottish record holder was distraught and clearly in pain from his foot, with hopes of making the final almost at zero.

However, a slow tactical second heat won by Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera in 3:44.00, and with the third heat lacking the depth, O’Hare chances of making the final increased tenfold.

With Djiboutian’s Ayanleh Souleiman, one of the strong favourites, missing due to visa issues, GB’s Wightman was the man to beat in heat three.

The recently crowned British champion never looked in trouble and delivered a fine tactical performance. Sitting comfortably amongst the field for first few laps the 23-year-old Scot decided to put the heat to bed and cement his place in the final.

Stretching out the field that included USA’s Craig Engels, Wightman powered home to cross the line in 3:47.23, with the American second in 3:47.55. After the three heats, O’Hare’s time booked was good enough to book a spot in the final and providing his foot injury is manageable will be on the start line tomorrow.

“The only experience I’ve had of a home crowd was London [World Championships] last year and that was immense but this being indoors makes that noise even more amplified,” said Wightman.

“When I hit the last lap in front they were roaring which is always going to help you keep your form down that home straight. It was alright but I just need to get a nap in now.

“Back-to-back races are things I haven’t done too much of, but it’s good that it’s in the morning so I can go home and spend the whole day recovering.”

Elsewhere in the morning session, CJ Ujah booked his place the evening’s semi-finals after winning heat five of seven in 6.59, while GB teammate Andrew Robertson qualifies as a fastest loser after finishing fourth in his heat in 6.74.

Other sprint starts to qualify to include USA’s world record breaker Christian Coleman and compatriot Ronnie Baker, along with China’s Bingtian Su.

In the 800m heats, GB’s Shelayna Oskan-Clarke qualifies after winning heat two in 2:01.76, but Mhairi Hendry misses out after finishing third in heat three with 2:02.65.

The post Jake Wightman and Chris O’Hare qualify for World Indoor 1500m final appeared first on Fast Running.

Johnson-Thompson, who opened her World Indoor Championships pentathlon campaign in the morning session with the 60m hurdles, the high jump and shot put, started extremely well in the evening session leaping to 6.50m twice.

That left the 2015 indoor European Indoor champion taking a narrow lead into the final event, 33 points ahead of Austria’s Ivona Dadic.

Knowing she had to stay with Dadic and Yorgelis Rodriguez over 800m to confirm the gold, the Liverpool Harrier watched every move as the race developed and bided her time.

As the bell went, she moved around the outside to the front of the pack and held on to cross the line and secure the gold.

“I can’t believe it; I’ve dreamt of this for so long and to do it here at a home world championship is incredible,” said Johnson-Thompson afterwards. “It has been a long time coming but I am finally a senior world champion, so I am so happy. I just wanted my family to actually see me achieve something.

“It has been up and down; a long old day but the crowd have really pushed me on. Thanks to them for coming out in the snow, they got me around that 800m.

“The shot put went best for me. I’m so happy because my warm-up wasn’t good but I got an indoor PB which I was delighted with. It is an event I struggle with so to get a PB was amazing. It has been a really fun day.”

Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan in the 1500m

After winning her first global medal last night in the 3000m, Laura Muir returned in style to professionally secure her place in Saturday night’s 1500m final.

Tracking 3000m champion Genzebe Dibaba all the way around, Muir positioned herself expertly over the seven and a half laps to make sure her name is on the start list as she has another shot at a world medal.

“That was good; I obviously wanted to get that top two spot and that was a tough heat with Dibaba in it but I got the job done so I’m really happy with it, commented Muir post-race. “Today I’ve been eating, seeing my physio and just relaxing as much as possible. I had the little mint chocolate from my hotel room last night and that was my ‘little treat’ but no I did the same as always.”

Eilish McColgan as involved in the scrappier, and thus slower of the heats, narrowly avoiding a mid-race fall from Sweden’s Meraf Bahta to cross the line in sixth place in 4:13.32.

800m and 400m

There was excellent news for Birchfield’s Elliot Giles who wowed the home crowd as he progressed to the 800m final. Setting an indoor best of 1:45.46 along the way, he looked supreme, taking up the lead at the bell to stay out of trouble. With the end in sight, Alvaro De Arriba of Spain made a move passed him but he just held off USA’s Drew Windle to qualify for the final on Saturday evening.

There was late drama in the 400m – so late that it was post-race – as Eilidh Doyle and Zoey Clark both progressed to the final after initially finishing outside the automatic qualifying places. Disqualifications to Lea Sprunger and Stephanie Ann McPherson meant the British duo progressed for a shot at the medals.

Doyle had Shakima Wimbley and Sprunger in her heat, two of the fiercest competitors in the entire competition, and she put up a valiant effort but crossed the line in third, recording a time of 52.15. However, the Swiss athlete was later DQ’d for a lane infringement which saw the multiple global medallist advance.

After Clark saw her world indoor dream cut short by 0.003 seconds – the time between her and second place Justnya Swiety-Ersetic – she cut a disconsolate figure on the track. However, after semi-final winner Stephanie Ann McPherson was rightly seen to step out of her lane, thus shown the red card, seeing the world relay silver medallist reach her first individual world final with a time of 52.63.

British champion Lee Thompson gave everything he had in his semi-final but sixth position in 47.14 left him outside the qualification places. Nevertheless, it was a breakthrough moment for the Sheffield & Dearne athlete, on his international debut. He returns for his second taste of the Birmingham crowd in the 4x400m relay.

60m and 60m hurdles

In a semi-final worthy of a final itself, such was the stacked nature of the line-up, Asha Philip performed admirably for fifth position in her heat but that was not enough for her to progress to the final as only the top two advanced automatically alongside two fastest qualifiers from three heats.

The British champion was evidently disappointed not to progress to the final which was won by Murielle Ahoure from the Ivory Coast.

In the last of the three 60m semi-finals, Bianca Williams ran a lifetime best of 7.26 but it was bittersweet as she placed sixth which was not enough to reach the final. However, having only had the call-up to the team at the start of the week after Daryll Neita’s withdrawal, the performance exceeded her expectations despite some niggles coming into the event.

On her senior international debut, Megan Marrs returned to the venue where she won the British title two weeks earlier, clocking 8.28 for sixth position in the second heat. Similarly, Marilyn Nwawulor (Lloyd Cowan) was sixth in 8.22 but like her compatriot, did not progress to the semi-final stage.

The post Katarina Johnson-Thompson clinches world gold appeared first on Fast Running.

Scottish 200m indoor record holder Clark was the first to qualify after winning the third of six heats to the delight of the home crowd inside the Arena Birmingham.

The world relay silver medalist was comfortable throughout the race and came through 200m in 24.44 before crossing the line in 52.75, 0.30 seconds ahead of Poland’s Justyna Święty.

Fellow Scottish record holder and hurdles specialist Doyle lined up in the penultimate heat alongside Ireland’s Healy and world 400m bronze medallist, Stephenie Ann McPherson.

Healy who has recently converted to the 400m from the shorter sprints used her speed for a fast start out in front as the lanes merged running the fastest 200m split 24.03 in all the heats.

Going into the final lap the experience and quality of Doyle and Jamaica’s McPherson came to the fore as the pair moved into first and second, with Healy holding on for third. With the top two automatically advancing, 23-year-old Healy secured one the remaining fastest spots to create a bit of history as the first Irish woman to advance to the semi-final of a 400m at a world indoor championships.

Doyle, who retained her British indoor 400m title last month, said afterwards: “It was a good race although it was tactically a bit different to what I’ve had this year. I would have liked to have won the break and controlled the race but unfortunately I didn’t do that.

“It meant I could just relax that second lap and I knew I could catch them on the home straight. I need to be a bit more aggressive over that first 200m. I’m going to have to be tonight, because tonight is my final I’m going to have to really run my heart out to try and be here tomorrow again.”

Meanwhile, GB debutant Lee Thompson enjoyed a great run in the men’s 400m heats finishing second in 46.81 and qualifying automatically.

The women’s semi-finals take place later tonight at 8:32pm with the men’s afterwards at 9:06pm.

In second men’s 3000m heat Jonny Davies finished 10th in 8:21.73, however after four men, including USA’s Paul Chelmno were disqualified, moved up to sixth. An appeal could yet seem some athletes reinstated.

Davies who clocked a 7:50.18 personal best in Boston this year was obviously disappointed with his showing in Birmingham.

“Obviously disappointing end to a great season,” said Davies afterwards. “Very frustrated and wasn’t myself today but lessons learnt. Onto the summer.”

Ethiopia’s 18-year-old Selemon Barega won the heat in 7:48.14, with compatriot Yomif Kejelcha taking the first heat.

60m heats

Earlier on in the morning session, GB’s Asha Philip ran a very strong opening round in the 60m to advance to the semi-finals on Friday evening. The reigning European gold medalist clocked 7.18 for second to automatically qualify behind Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahouré.

Bianca Williams, a late call-up to the British team booked her place in the semi-finals as one of the remaining fastest outside the automatic spots, posting 7.31 in the first of six heats.

In the green of Ireland, Amy Foster finished fifth in heat two in 7.35 missing out on a spot in the semi-finals. “It’s not a bad run,” the recent Irish 60m record holder said afterwards. “It’s just not what I was looking for.”

Fellow Irish athlete Ciara Neville ran in the first heat where clocked 7.47 seconds for seventh.

Elsewhere, after three events in the pentathlon, Katarina Johnson-Thompson is in second place, with the 800m and the long jump later this evening.

Johnson-Thompson, competing in the pentathlon for the first time since winning European indoor gold in 2015, opened her campaign with an equal season’s best of 8.36 seconds in the 60m hurdles, before moving into the high jump and a 1.91m best moved her first place. After the shot put, she dropped just one place to second thereafter.

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Marrs from Belfast competes in the 60 metres hurdles on Friday (March 2) evening at Arena Birmingham, just a fortnight after claiming the UK title at the same venue in a personal best of 8.16 seconds.

There have been huge strides forward this winter for the Loughborough-based prospect who came through the ranks at Lisburn AC before heading to UK Athletics performance base.

But it’s all been following in the footsteps of her Mum Debbie McDowell who was one of Northern Ireland’s top high jumpers during her illustrious career.

“I found out the other day that the last (Northern Irish) woman to make a British team was my Mum,” Marrs said. “She was the last one to make a European indoor team. She was British champion 30 years ago in 1988 so to carry on and be the next one is quite nice. To be able to carry on in the family tradition is great.

“I was that child in the buggy being wheeled around. I’ve grown up on the track. But my parents never really pushed me into athletics until I chose to do it until the age of 14. They were unbelievably supportive. The whole family is flying over to Birmingham and it’s going to make it a big family event.”

With four automatically making it through to the next-round, Marrs goes in the second of five heats at 6:13pm on Friday.

The 20-year-old lines up in lane six and among those she will face is USA’s Christina Manning, who finished fifth over the longer 100m at the World Championships in London last summer.

She will be one of two Lisburn products making their world indoor entrances with Amy Foster running for Ireland in the 60 metres, fresh from setting a Northern Irish indoor best of 7.27 secs at the recent Irish National Championships.

Marrs plans to use the global stage as a platform for the years ahead after figuring out the changes needed to push herself upwards.

“It’s just been my attitude I think,” she said. “It’s been about turning up for every session – giving it 110 percent – making a lot more sacrifices this year. Last year was the first year at university. I had to get all of that out of my system. This year I’ve really been able to sit down and concentrate.

“This makes me want to work harder. I never considered myself an indoor runner until now. So now if I can be selected for a world indoors, hopefully, I can come out and do that again at the Europeans.”

The semi-finals and final in Birmingham are on Saturday night. The latter is Marrs goal.

But she said: “My main target is to really enjoy the experience and learn. I’ll be surrounded by amazing athletes so if I can watch them and learn, hopefully it will be good for the future.”

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Snow may have been cooling things down outside, but Great Britain’s Laura Muir was intent on heating things up inside the Arena Birmingham as she stormed around the track to win a first global medal.

A year after winning double European gold over 1500m and 3000m in Belgrade, it was always going to be a difficult task to repeat the feat on the world stage given the demands of Muir combining training alongside her final year veterinary studies.

In typical fashion, Muir wasn’t waiting about and took the race from the front in the first of 15 laps of the 200m track, with fellow Brit Eilish McColgan among those on her heels.

After coming through 800m in a slow 2:35, the young German Konstanze Klosterhalfen took the lead at the 1k mark determined to stretch the race out.

With Klosterhalfen out in front until the 2k mark, it was time for defending champion Genzebe Dibaba to take over and inject some pace with a third 3000m gold in her sights.

Muir was in fourth for the next 400m before moving out wide to get around Klosterhalfen, but once done, it was down to three athletes with Dibaba having a sizeable but diminishing lead.

Despite the best efforts of the chasing pair there was only going to be one winner at the bell, with the determination of Ethiopia’s Dibaba clear as she chased another global medal.

Muir and Hassan had an exciting battle for second and third and despite the British 3000m champion attempting to pass Hassan in the final metres, the Dutch athlete held on (and may have impeded Muir) for silver as they crossed the line.

RELATED: Laura Muir: No slacking, no fear, no compromise

Dibaba, the fastest this season, won in 8:45.05, with Hassan and Muir running season bests of 8:45.68 and 8:45.78 for silver and bronze respectively.

“We had to put yesterday behind us; six hours in the car, windscreen wipers were frozen but we got here and I’ve won a medal; I couldn’t be happier, said Muir after becoming the first Scot in 25 years to win an individual world indoor medal. “I ran the race as hard I could; I was so tired at the end.

“It means so much to me to get the win; it bodes well for the rest of the year, especially the Europeans.

“I’ve been 4th, 6th and 7th at major championships so the bronze is very special. To finally get that world medal means so much; I’m delighted.

“I just wanted to stay out of trouble at the start; Klosterhalfen took over the pace so everything went to plan. I knew I could be strong at the end so I’m very pleased.”

The three podium athletes now get set for the 1500m heats on Friday aiming to win double world indoor medals.

5000m gold medalist at London 2017 Hellen Obiri finished fourth in 8:49.66, with British 1500m champion McColgan tenth in a time of 9:01.32.

“I don’t quite know what went wrong to be honest,” said a disappointed McColgan. “It felt very flat and sluggish and when the race went I tried to go and there was nothing there.

“I suppose I have to forget about it now and try to not make the same mistakes again tomorrow and come out again and be competitive.

“Since coming back from my last training camp things haven’t clicked. Training has been going really well up to that point but I have felt a little bit flat. I am so disappointed with that today, with it being a home championships, I wanted to be competitive and today I wasn’t.”

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