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Muir leads British challenge for European indoor glory

Muir leads British challenge for European indoor glory
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The 25-year-old will defend the 1500 and 3,000m titles she won in Belgrade two years ago.

Laura Muir will seek a second golden double in the European Indoor Championships on home soil as part of a 48-strong Great Britain and Northern Ireland team named on Sunday.

Muir won the 1500 metres and 3,000m titles in Belgrade in 2017 and will defend them from March 1-3 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

The 25-year-old enjoyed the perfect preparation by smashing Kirsty Wade's 31-year-old indoor mile record by five seconds in Birmingham on Saturday, her time of four minutes 18.75 seconds also being the third-fastest of all time.

Asha Philip (60m) and Andrew Pozzi (60m hurdles) will also defend their titles, although Pozzi's selection is subject to him proving his fitness ahead of the championships.

A record nine Scottish athletes includes the nation's most decorated track and field athlete Eilidh Doyle and European indoor 1500m bronze medallist Chris O'Hare, who is making the step up to 3,000m.

Ojie Edoburun is the only man selected in the 60m despite not achieving the tough qualifying standard of 6.60 seconds, a time only Reece Prescod managed.

Prescod has opted against competing in Glasgow, while Edoburun is eligible for selection by virtue of his 100m times last summer.

Defending champion Richard Kilty ran 6.64secs in Birmingham on Saturday and questioned why British Athletics had set such a difficult qualifying time.

Richard Kilty in action in Birmingham
Richard Kilty in action in Birmingham (David Davies/PA)

Announcing the team, British Athletics performance director Neil Black said: "We are delighted to have selected our biggest and strongest ever team for the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, which is yet another major international championships for us on home soil.

"With the IAAF World Championships, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, drawing ever closer, Glasgow is a great opportunity for our athletes to defend titles, win medals and show their quality on a major international stage.

"Once again, we have demonstrated that athletics is a truly equal sport by selecting more women than men, with four of those 26 having won European indoor gold while there are a further four who have medalled previously at the event.

"It is fantastic to have our biggest ever contingent of Scottish athletes for a major championships in their backyard and we look forward to watching every single member of the team thrive in front of a home crowd.

"Glasgow is the last major championships before the IAAF World Championships in Doha later in the year and we expect to be extremely competitive."

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