Mo Farah set a new European 5,000m record while Laura Muir broke Kelly Holmes’ 13-year-old British 1,000m record on an impressive day for the Brits at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix.
In his final indoor race Farah clocked 13.09.16 to once again break the British record after Muir ran the second fastest time in history to break Holmes’ long-standing record earlier in the day – the latter also setting a European record in the process.
Farah made his move with 17 laps to go with Albert Rop an ever present on his heels, but the four-time Olympic Champion upped the ante during the closing stages and raced away from the pack to claim victory and break both the British and European records.
The 33-year-old intends to quit the track after this summer’s World Championships in London to concentrate on road racing.
He said: “I can’t quite believe it is my last race but I have had a great indoor career. It is something that must come to an end.
“It is weird thinking about it and saying goodbye because I have had great support from everyone and in particular this track where I have broken so many records. It has been amazing over the years. I didn’t know I had broken the European record but that is good - it means a lot.” Muir, 23, enjoyed similar success as she ran the second fastest time in history to break the 1,000m British record.
Muir was right behind Jenny Meadows as the pair passed through the first three laps on record pace, but then the Scot took control and chased down the record Holmes set at the same meeting in 2004 with a 2.31.93 which was also a European record.
Muir, who broke her third British record of 2017, said: “I am delighted – I really wanted to get the win; that was really important. To beat Kelly’s record is amazing and to be so close to the world record is also very encouraging for me.
“The crowd were so loud; I couldn’t hear myself breath. To have this level of support is something I am very grateful of and the fact that we will have this in London for the World Championships later this year will be a great advantage for all the British athletes.
“I have worn my lucky spikes for all four of my national records so I am going to keep them safe for the future. They will be worth a bit now!”
Andrew Pozzi warmed up for the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade with victory in the 60m hurdles in 7.43 seconds – shaving another hundredth of a second off his world lead – with David King producing a personal best 7.63 in second.
Richard Kilty was third in the men’s 60m final behind American pre-race favourite Ronnie Baker while Laviai Nielson went sixth in the world rankings after clocking a personal best 51.90 for second in the women’s 400m.
There was also a personal best for Eilish McColgan in the women’s 3000m (8:43.03) as she finished fifth with Steph Twell tenth, also in a lifetime best of 8:45.95, while Shelayna Oskan-Clarke was third in the women’s 800m in a indoor personal best of 2:01.71.
In the field events, Robbie Grabarz was second with a clearance of 2.28m just five weeks after having his appendix removed, while Lorraine Ugen was the best performing Brit in the women’s long jump, recording a season’s best 6.76m to better Jazmin Sawyer’s 6.71m indoor personal best. Sportsbeat 2017