Day 2 - Afternoon Session Athletics: European Indoor Championships

Welcome to Serbia and the beautiful city of Belgrade for our

back-to-back coverage of the European indoor athletics

Championships. It is day two of the three and already we have seen a man

in a GB vest take gold. Here comes Pozzi and he gets it and

is rewarded with the title of European indoor champion.

Not bad for a day one and there are ten more golds up for grabs and

plenty of Brits in contention including the 1500 metres where

Scotland's Laura Muir is looking for her first international medal. It's

going to be tight on the line. She makes sure. Hoping to show them how

it's done loving Nilsson goes in the 400 metres. She looks fairly

comfortable. And Richard Kilty, the Teesside tornado, looking to defend

his title in front of an expectant crowd. Richard Kilty easing away.

That and a whole lot more to get your teeth stuck into. Now, that's

what I call Saturday evening entertainment. It has been a

glorious day here in Belgrade, temperatures hitting 21 degrees. It

is a magnificent city, sitting on the confluence of the two rivers and

we are here in the Kombank arena normally home to things like ice

hockey and basketball and athletics is doing it proud and we have a pact

next four hours of athletics for you with ten golds up for grabs, and

Great Britain sniffing around a good few of them but there are plenty of

British athletes who have their eye on the main prize in this evening's

session. Denise Lewis, Colin Jackson and Paula Radcliffe alongside me for

this one, who are very excited because there are some really strong

contenders out there, the sprints for the men, the semis, Richard

Kilty is looking to retain his title and Laura Muir who I don't think any

of our pundits have said is anything but nailed on for it. It is

dangerous to say that. She is in the form of her life but she must get it

right here and she must make no mistakes, she is the one to shoot

at. But she is in that position where they can't run away from her

and will not be able to out sprint her so as long as she stays out of

trouble she should be all right. You've always got to have that sense

of jeopardy that things could go wrong in a major championship so she

still has to get round. In the men's sprints, slightly more problematic

because we have had so many problems with the starter gun and it was a

nervy time this morning for the sprinters, wasn't it? It was but

much better than yesterday. The nerves have been settled, I think

the officials and starters have got to grips with everything and we saw

some good sprinting. And the times, not that we should take too much

from the times in the heats, but the British men in three of the top four

spaces, including the top two, Theo Etienne, Midget championship debut,

it is really encouraging, isn't it? It is very encouraging -- major

championship debut. Now they will fancy their chances, which is great

to see, it will make it more competitive right across the board.

Coming to a major championships knowing you have the ability to take

the title is going to spur them on. It is great to see, certainly busier

than it was in this morning's session, the atmosphere but then

because there are a few key Serbian athletes coming up for the evening

sessions. Let's tell you what is coming up for you in the next four

hours or so. Andy Potts seat struck hurdling gold last night and we will

see him receive it and hear the anthem at 4:40pm. -- Andreozzi. The

of Brits, guilty, Theo Etienne Andrew Robertson in the semis and

then the final letter. We will see Savea Oskan-Clarke and Kyle Langford

as they aim to qualify for tomorrow's 800 metres quarterfinals.

And Scotland's Laura Muir, the big favourite, in the 1500 metre final,

could be the first of two big golds for her in Belgrade. Loving Nilsson

is aiming for her first major medals, she has high hopes in a hot

400-metre final. And completing the Brit Pack medal attack is Tom

Lancashire, in with a shout of some precious metal. Here are the timings

to make sure you are in front of a television at the appropriate

moments. We have the high jump final for the women and triple jump final

bow to take place, the women's pole vault final is also going to kick

off very soon, it is always spectacular in doors and you want to

be around at 4:40pm to see Andrew Pozzi who struggle so much with

injury in the last few years at major championships, still seeing

things come together in what could be a huge year for his career. At

5:30pm it is the men's semifinals in the 60 metres. And then we have the

800 semis with Shelayna Oskan-Clarke and Kyle Langford at 6pm and Laura

Muir and Sarah McDonald get things going in the 1500 metre final.

Loving Nilsson is the only Brit in the 400 final after she done at her

sister dropped out ahead of the championships and Aline Doyle didn't

make the final. At 7:15pm it is Tom Lancashire in the 1500 final for the

men had at 7:55pm it is the men's 60-metre final and some of our guys

could be done get a 1-2- three for Great Britain, they have the

potential. Great Britain sit joint fourth with Belgium after the Andrew

Pozzi gold. There are only five golds up for grabs yesterday, plenty

more medals you would expect to be added to the tally from today's

performances and great chances as well.

No big surprises so far, Denise? In terms of how things are panning out,

didn't make the 400-metre final. If there was one athlete that has grown

and demonstrated that she belongs out there it is heard a dependable

shoulders for the 4x400 metres and also a solid performer in

championships, so to see her, I don't think she overcooked it, it

was just one of those things that happens in races, she went hard, she

had to do it and just missed out on qualification. Sarah McDonald also

in the 1500 metre final with Laura Muir, what kind of performance can

we expect from her? Bit of an unknown quantity for the rest of the

pack. Absolutely. Coming here was already a big step up coming to a

major championships and to make the final and run as well as she did to

qualify outright in the heats will have given her a big boost to her

confidence. I think she was just go into that final with very much the

opinion of, OK, I will just give it my best shot, everything that

happens here is just a bonus because making the final was already a big

step forward. And Tom Lancashire, we should look out for him. Coached by

Steve Cram, he's done very well so far. Do you see him getting into the

medals? He is capable of it and Tom has taken big steps forward with his

confidence this season, at the beginning of the season he wasn't

really seeing it click. He got himself in the right positions, he

was really unlucky because he got bumped and lost much faster time but

if he gets it right he is strong and needs to believe himself, in himself

more but he is capable of getting a medal. You will have your eyes on

how the tallies are working their way up because these are your

predictions ahead of these championships. Colin is quite mean.

He has gone for four golds but only to my Chris Old and two bronze

giving a total of six but I make that eight, we need to change that.

Denise has got eight which is correct maths, but you are going for

three golds. Everybody saying Laura is nailed on and we already have

Andy, so you don't think any more golds? I didn't want to be

conservative, I didn't want to be put into this position, named and

shamed! But I think this is a challenge, I didn't want to put

Laura under pressure to get two golds so I have just gone for the

one, for a change, and might tamper with the figures afterwards. But I'm

thinking Richard Kilty might. You will obviously put your money on

Laura so you don't think Richard will reclaim his title? I always put

too much thought into this. I thought, how many? Take off some

disasters and that is what it will be. You have more tallied? I went

for how many I thought and then took some off so that might be more

realistic. I think Laura took too much time thinking about that, don't

you? CHUCKLES

Earlier today was the men's shot put qualifying, you might have seen that

on the red button and one of the big names for Serbia was out there and

he wasn't having the best morning and he left it down to the final

throw in the shot put to make the final so he gave at every effort and

put everything into it and it was so much that it went over the netting

and onto the track, which would ordinarily be not a problem if, of

course, there wasn't an athlete in the way. You can see a little bit

from this angle, a blue vested athlete sprinting out of the way but

showing you the other angle, have a look at the other athlete near the

meeting it was Robbie Grabarz in the middle of trying to qualify for the

high jump final, and luckily he has a good turn of pace and he has his

wits about him because he sees the shot put, sprints away and it runs

almost exactly where he was but the shot put carries on running at the

same speed as the long jumper, almost beating her to the sand in

the long jump competition, all in a morning's work, everyone seemed very

nonplussed about it and it was eventually rescued. If anybody tells

you athletics is not a dangerous sport they are not watching closely

enough. Welcome to the indoors, this happens! You have got to keep your

eye out, there is a lot going on, it is very close, even though this is

one of the better arenas but I've seen it happen before. They cram so

much into a tight space and one of the events where that can make a

real difference is the high jump because running in from the

left-hand side it is a tight run-up and as Tony talked about earlier in

the women's high jump competition, final is well underway, so Steve can

bring you up to speed. The women who made the final, eight of them,

including Morgan Lake of Great Britain jumped very well yesterday,

1.90 but watch out for the Lithuanian who jumped two metres.

The Olympic champion from Spain. One of the main contenders. There is

Morgan Lake getting ready, hopefully not dodging any shop that is. Robbie

Grabarz dodging that shot put qualified for tomorrow's

quarterfinal but this is the women's final. All athletes clear at 1.80

including Lake, the bar is at 1.85. This is the first attempt. Really

good. 1.85 looking in really good shape in those opening heights,

Morgan Lake. You can see her coach sitting in the background. She has

been across to talk to him between jumps. Cutting the corner off

slightly I think was the message. I mentioned Ruth Beitia, 37 years of

age, 6'3", Olympic champion from 2016. 15 competitions at two metres

or better, as Beitia and she is the one to fear and is the most

experience. 1.85 to match Morgan. Very comfortable indeed, showing her

class and composure in a major and she will be the one to beat, for

sure, as the bar heightens. 1.85, pedestrian for the Olympic champion,

for sure. 1.89, the bar is raised to. Morgan Lake from the opposite

side starting her run-up out on the track in lane two, as you can see

she cuts across here. She made a mess of that. That was her first

try. I mentioned the position she started

in, she cut the corner off a little bit and gets a little bit twisted at

take-off. That's how to do it, the failure at 1.89. Second attempt.

Well, maybe not even as good as the first one. Got very close to that,

did Lake. She cleared 1.90 in qualification, remember, tenth in

the Olympics last year, Morgan Lake, won the world Junior Championships

three years ago so she is very comfortable with these heights but

she has put herself under immense pressure here. A shake of the head I

saw from Morgan. Not sure what that means. Probably her best effort but

three fouls for Lake and disappointment for her. She is

beside herself. She knew that was something that she had the potential

to clear, 1.89, just to remind you, the bar that was knocked off three

times by Morgan Lake. That's three fouls and she is out. And as the

competition continues Morgan Lake packs her bag and is asked to leave.

It's not her day. Choosing not to do the multi-event here and focused on

the high jump and it hasn't worked out, so back to the drawing board. I

am sure there will be a chat. Three fouls for Lake at 1.89.

So as you saw that the next height 192, this is Simic from Croatia.

Came down on that. Someone asked expected to be a contender goes out.

A rueful smile. Not what she would have wanted by any means. European

bronze-medallist from 2014 Simic but that is the end of her day.

I mentioned the Lithuanian Palsyte, 1.9 for the bar is at. She is in

serious shape. That is a very competent, capable jump. Denoting

the European league for the Lithuanian athlete will be possibly

the one to beat. Second best to Beitia in the past. A clean sheet

the Lithuanian. It then turned to Beitia. 1.94, the Olympic champion

strides out to match the jump of Palsyte comfortably. So Beitia,

Palsyte, was built at the head-to-head -- was built at the

head-to-head and it is going in that direction. A smile on the face of

Beitia, clean sheet in first place. She is very used to that. This is

the young 19-year-old Levchenko. Third attempt. A pressure jump. That

is some celebration. Fantastic stuff. Superb, a lifetime best for

the young Ukrainian. Won a bronze medal last year. She really throws

herself at that. Look at that. A fantastic pressure jump. Two

centimetres added to her lifetime best. Brilliant stuff. Stays in the

competition. The bar will be raised. Personal best in the European indoor

final. Okuneva from Ukraine, nine times Ukrainian champion, 1.94,

unable to go clear so... Okuneva not even close to that. That

would have matched her lifetime best, she has done that this year

though. Not today. The bar has been raised to 1.96 and

Palsyte to go into the lead. Yes. Looked so composed. Very impressive

stuff. We knew she jumped two metres coming into these championships, but

she is showing some championship composure as well, normally Beitia

in the past putting the pressure on the opposition but that is Palsyte

with a clean sheet there. So Levchenko as she did in the previous

heights. But not this time. 1.94 was clearly enough. She was pleased with

that. But a bronze medal for a 19-year-old

in a major championship is very impressive indeed. Levchenko ahead

of her team-mate, look at that, a lifetime best. So then Beitia to

respond. Last attempt. Wasn't going to be. So rude Beitia, the champion

last year who seemed unbeatable last year, major champion and what an

experience she has had over the years. Really leans away from that

and brings herself back but slightly missed timed. 1.96, just shy of her

season best. Right then, Palsyte has won with 1.96, her second attempt at

2.0 one. Easy. How about that. The nod from Beitia. The first time we

have seen her face lights up. What an effort. I wanted to say it is a

European league but the world champion from Russia has jumped 2.0

three, no Russians involved due to the blanket ban. Palsyte adds one

centimetre to her lifetime best and is confirmed as the European

champion ahead of the Olympic champion, that'll mean so much to

take the scalp of Beitia. The gold medal wrapped in the flag of

Lithuania, what a performance. Done in style. It says the European

league there and as I say that is without the Russian names added. We

will give her that one. Two point 01, a lifetime best when it matters

the most. Absolutely superb performance, came in as one of the

favourites and absolutely delivered. There is gold, silver, bronze. 18

years difference between silver and bronze. As you can see in lane for

practising his finish Tony what did you make of this. ? I have had a

high jump lesson here and it is a privilege to do this, I'm really

impressed with the junior girl Levchenko, jumps into bronze medal

position. If you look at the winner and the way she jumped,

unbelievable, what a free neat. She comes in from the right-hand side,

huge leap and the inside right leg, a big driven need up and over the

bar, classic high jumping. If you looked at the textbook that would be

it. Certainly she is world number one here, European number one, that

I think is superb. A quick word on Morgan Lake, a difficult day for

her? Morgan looked fantastic, 180 - 85, she had a lot of pop off the

floor and really the run-up to let her down for me. She straightened up

and ran at the middle of the bar over the last two steps, because

she's running straight on at a diagonal angle it is difficult, you

then have to rotate which takes you in towards the bar. Her third

attempt was magnificent lift but not quite enough, really because of the

rotation it is difficult to arch over the bar. Really unlucky because

she was coming off of the floor fantastically. Really she would have

been able to jump close to her season 's best if she had done that.

So we're off and running for the evening session and yesterday was a

great start to the championships with a golden and for Great Britain.

Tight on the line. An impressive run from Tom Lancashire. She is

outstanding multi-event earth. Looks to be comfortable. Men's six

hurdles. Otaegui coming to an positive so. He got it and he won

the gold medal. And there he is about to get his

gold medal, his first major medal, can you take yourself back to that

moment: when it was here and what it feels like? It's very special. It's

hard to achieve your ultimate goal and it so good that Andy has

returned in such a strong way. He would have fought this time last

year he would be the fastest in the world and the European indoor

champion -- thoughts. You know as well as anyone, when you train hard

and an injury comes along and a really inappropriate moment comes

along, as it has done with him so many times, not being able to get

the training in, this could be the start of a really good year?

Absolutely because that injury breaks up momentum and when it is

more than one, it really breaks the momentum of the trajectory of where

his career is going so this has got him right back on track and has

given huge confidence. He stayed healthy through the season and has

come here to achieve the main objective. And he, every time is

injured, it's not just getting the fitness back and getting himself

striding but the technical element to because hurdlers do not hurdle

every time they train. It's him having to get as many of those

sessions in and one of the things he said is he puts more sessions in the

sea than the previous two seasons? Exactly. To me it is the mental

belief. He had to adapt is training to get to the Olympics. It is the

body of work that he has been able to put together which has allowed

him and afforded him this. It is that patients of not giving up and

it is a strong message for any athlete out there. We have had a few

out there who have had a few destructive seasons. How good could

this year be for him's should we expect him to make a world final and

where should he finished? He himself will think he will make a world

final and that is the most important thing. He believes in himself and I

think he can be in a final and Nick medal. He is that good. The back end

of the race is where he can be at his very best so because he is

technically good it's means when he is under pressure he will not make

many mistakes. He won't say executed yesterday perfectly but the times he

posted this year gave him confidence that he knew he had it, the

technical training to get himself through and to propel software over

the final hurdles? And there is his gold. I missed the name of the back

is it Bella? He has his own Bella the Bear and his own anthem to

listen to. ENGLISH National Anthem Let's hope that that is the first of

many for him and he will hear that anthem and see his flag fly many

more times. He is only 24 years old and he has a very bright future in

deed and apologies to the bear which is actually a lion. It looks very

much like the bears are my daughter has on her bed at time but there you

go. One person spare is another person is lying. We started the

men's heptathlon today and Ashley Bryant had a really good start

today. It was the shot put competition this afternoon and they

got underway if you hours ago but here is the story to bring you up to

speed so far. Away this time. Ashley Bryant got off to a good start. It

is all about the time 7.0 five. Dudas is a quick sprinter. Anything

close to his personal best this year would be a good start for Ashley

Bryant. So Ashley Bryant round two. Better

on the board. That is a big jump. Ashley Bryant a glance out to the

scoreboard, looks better on the board, slight rotation, still has a

little bit of space there but an improvement, just looking down there

he can't do that, hard when you try to make the adjustments but it

affects your head position. So after two events Ashley Bryant in

second place, he has had a good season breaking his personal best

throughout the season in various events and here it is the seven

events over two days. Looking at the second page you can see Lee Ramsay

is also getting himself off to a good start. He can do a good start

next up is the shot put. Third event of the seven, shot put,

and Ashley Bryant started the day well, the lifetime best in the

Sprint. Could have maybe squeezed out a little more. 7.66 in the long

jump but solid, and in the shot put this is his third attempt. That will

be measured at 14.57. Ashley Bryant very close to his lifetime best

which he did very recently, well, early January, in Sheffield, 14.65,

so within a few centimetres of what he is capable of. Very capable

shot-putter, of Montenegro, Darko Pesic, uses his leave as well.

16-metre man. Big shout from Pesic, champion from last year. The

penultimate event of day one, just the high jump remaining. 60, hurdle,

pole vault and 1000 metres tomorrow. Pesic will move up into eighth place

at the end of that shot put competition. Here is the main man,

the silver-medallist from Rio last year, Kevin Mayer.. Season's best of

over 50 metres. Kevin Mayer smashed his own lifetime best by over 300

points in Rio. Thriving under the pressure of the Olympics, doing

pretty well here as well. Kevin Mayer, a shake of the head, I don't

think that means he didn't like it in any way at all. Because he is in

serious shape at the start of the day, 695 in the sprints, 7.64 in the

long jump, and that was a big effort in the shot put, 15.66 metres,

season's best. Here is Adam Sebastian Helcelet of the Czech

Republic. Some history, European silver-medallist, good experience.

Down the left sector, but good effort for him, his best of the

afternoon. Helcelet doing his chances of an overall medal some

good there. 15.25, his best, but Kevin Mayer out in front ahead of

Helcelet. Season is best for Helcelet. Liam Ramsey has had a

challenging day so far. His long jump unravelled somewhat. He

sprinted reasonably well but got caught up in a few false starts.

Liam Ramsey with a lifetime best of 13.64. But gaining experience all

the way just shy of his lifetime best. That was measured at 13.62. He

gathered himself well after disappointment in the long jump. So,

what did all that mean after three events. As I alluded to Kevin Mayer,

the Frenchman, out in front, 76 points ahead of Ashley Bryant,

putting up a brilliant series of performances and the

silver-medallist from the European outdoors, Adam Helcelet, Ashley

Bryant would love to stay in that spot. Liam Ramsey down in 14th place

as we move towards the halfway stage. As I say, only the high jump

left in that heptathlon competition over two days here at the European

Indoors. STUDIO: The high jump for the

heptathlon coming up for the men very soon, three more events for

them tomorrow, a really great start from the captain. His high jump is

pretty strong. He needs to be closer to his

personal best, 1.98. Kevin Mayer, good pole vault, and high jumper,

but what a great three events from Ashley, he couldn't have hoped for a

better start to his campaign. They are just coming up behind you. The

women's triple? The guys, they are coming up for the high jump. No rest

for the wicked. What I was saying about Ashley is that he has had to

wait for the invitation to be here because they select the top eight in

the world and whoever decides not to be here but next one comes down so

he is using the opportunity well and he has come with targets and would

like get close to the 6000 points barrier. Fishing in the top eight is

a big ask but anything is possible with this sort of good start. --

finishing in the top eight. Being the captain gives an added sense of

responsibility and we have seen it work so well for other athletes in

the past where they step up to the plate. He enjoys being captain, the

added responsibility has worked wonders for him. We saw Andrew Pozzi

do what he was opposed to do yesterday, so he will be really

pleased will that -- with that and think he is in good shape himself,

so anything, let me see if I can produce and lead by example. So far

so good. The first event on the track coming up later will be the

men's 60 metres semifinal, three men going in that, who finished in the

top four earlier, they think they can be in the final later and on the

podium, but nobody with more swagger than the reigning champion Richard

Kilty who is a master of the indoors over 60, former world and current

indoor champion and Steve Backley caught up with him when he arrived

in Belgrade. Kilty gets a flying start. Gold for

Kilty. Richard Kilty is already moving away. It is going to be gold

for Britain. Coming in as defending champion, how

does that affect your preparation and your mindset? Yeah, it's a bit

different, I've never gone into anything as defending champion, I've

never defended a title. When I come into a 60-metre competition in the

world everybody knows me as somebody who has won everything there is

indoors so definitely people see me as a bit of a target but I'm trying

to look on it as a relaxed thing and not as if I have a title to defend

but just a fresh competition to win and go out and attack it again. How

do you prepare for the perfect start? I think the best way to

prepare is just have your mind completely clear and then when you

rise on to set in my mind there is nothing there whatsoever and on the

next sound I've always been known to have superfast reactions, and on the

odd occasion reactions which they deem too fast. I saw one Quow that

said Richard Kilty can absolutely defend his title at the European

indoors if he doesn't false start -- Quow. They have been marginal and

maybe in your opinion the wrong side of it by the letter of the law. Yes.

But very, very close. How do you perceive it? The rules are the rules

but I think they are a little bit dated and it is a bit of a round

figure, the tenth of a second and it is like saying all humans can run as

fast as each other but we can't, we have different people and everyone

can be acted differently because everybody in a race has completely

different reaction times always. Sometimes a tenth or apart. I guess

I will have to wait lately for the process and then go but I will

definitely be aiming to react a little bit slower and a slow

reaction from me is still quite quick. You mention your competitors.

How where are you of what they do, how they are running, their

preparation? Or is it all about you and your lane? I think lots of

people are threats, it is a Championships, people can pull it

out of the bag. I did it in 2014, 60 6-1 underdog, and people can do that

so you cannot count anybody out and you have to have respect for all of

the people in the field but go into the race knowing you are going to

deliver your best on the day and have the confidence that that will

be enough to win. What would it mean to you to successfully defend your

European indoor title? It would be amazing. It's the first major

championships I have been in since being a dad and that has given me

the motivation and it is a breath of fresh air to me coming into our

lives, it gives you that bit of motivation and spurs you on that

little bit more to make my son proud.

Richard Junior will be at home with his mum watching his dad later

today. He has a pretty good genetic make-up himself, Richard Junior,

because his mother is a Lithuanian triple jumper. Today it is all about

his dad because you can tell really dumb he really has the bit between

his teeth. It must be so hard after being so dominant indoors at major

championships because outdoors he doesn't get into those finals, this

is where he really makes his mark and makes his name. It is about the

outdoors, this is just a transition for him, yes he comes here with high

hopes and is focused and knows he is the defending champion but I think

it is important that he takes it one at a time and he has a good chance

today. I mentioned he had a lot of swagger earlier and there was lots

of confidence from all of the British sprinters in the earlier

heats this morning. Let's take a look at them now.

It is a good start, here he comes flying. He has pulled up. He is

clutching his hamstring and he is done for, a real shame for him. That

is a shame. Kilty gets away reasonably well.

Manga alongside him. Kilty easing away. Close for second. He is having

a bit of a rant at himself. 6.62, not his best start, but he was OK

and safe and gives himself chance to get familiar with the starter. Moved

nicely in the middle of the race, 6.61 is a decent start for him.

That is a good start by Theo Etienne, look at him move away. He

is flying down the track, takes the victory, 6.64. Good run from the

Swede in lane six. 6.64 from Etienne Capoue there is lofty talk of a

British one, two, three. Theo Etienne will have to deliver.

Talking about being a youngster and perhaps the thing that he must deal

with is going through the rounds and dealing with three races in one day,

he has certainly shown himself to be pretty composed and strong in the

first of those races. Not such a good start because Rose

gets away well and Andy Robertson is into his running and will just sneak

this one. 6.67. Sometimes he can really explode out of the blocks,

Andy Robertson. I'm thinking that was a nice save. You heard what

Richard Kilty said about the warning. The safe thing to do is to

stay in your blocks, and then he came out and got into his running

nicely, and got past the fast starting Rose and held off the

challenge at the end. Impressive, Colin. Yes, all three of them were

very much in control of their heat which is what we wanted to see. I

think they will relish the fact they will be battling amongst each other.

Perhaps there may be one or two reason who could interrupt it but I

think this could be our first-ever clean sweep in the sprints indoors.

That would be a good thing to see for them. I think they will battle

really hard. It was interesting to hear Andy Robertson this morning

talking about a head-to-head with Richard Kilty, never mind the rest

of the field. It was in a really positive way. We're not talking that

way. He was positive and said he knows him really well. This is the

key thing, there is no intimidation from anyone and Richard is defending

champion, so of course he is the one that thinks he will attack. He gets

out of the blocks really well. His dad is here, he has his physio here.

I think again having the comfort around you knowing your coach is

there pushing you on, egging you on in the right way, and feeling very

confident in what you are capable of doing, it really sets you up well.

And of course, now, he will have two races back-to-back in the semifinal

and hopefully through to the final. If you look to your right. Somebody

who looks like Andy Pozzi. And there is a spare chair next to you, I

wonder if he is going to be there. He will know what it is like to be

winning. The guys will have reflected a little bit of what

Andrew has done himself and feel really excited about getting on this

track and producing a great performance. So, for me, I'm really

excited. Andy is just getting miked up and will come on and chat to us

in a moment and our floor manager Wayne is holding his lion! Who is

Wayne? I don't know who she is talking about either? Mr Wayne to

you. LAUGHTER

I think it is matter Wayne -- Matt. I don't think people needed to know

his full name. Andrew Pozzi took your mind away from things, so it is

all good. You know what you said, I think it's really important that

sense of occasion, how many times British sprinters have had an

opportunity to win these events? Robertson, Etienne Stott, they are

in the mix and they have to try not to make it a domestic battle --

Etienne Stott. to make it a domestic battle --

Etienne They have got to get out hard. Theo Etienne was impressive

this morning because he was a reserve for the Worlds last year and

didn't go. He was here today with a real swagger. He is 5'4" and his

turnover makes him look bigger. Tony compared him to you in terms of the

way he carries himself because he said you should really be 6'3" with

your legs. This is really great to see. There is no sense that he is

intimidated, he works hard out of the blocks. He has a really nice

range of movement for somebody who is relatively short as a sprinter.

Many people would have thought he would have had a lot of turnover and

work more on cadence than frequency but no, he has a nice stride length

and I think he could be a genuine threat. I'm really excited to see

what this battle is going to be and how it will turn out. Andy Pozzi is

here. Congratulations that was a wonderful

moment. It was a bit tight. It was fantastic to see you up there to get

the team going, a brilliant season you have had so far of course and to

clinch it and really finish it off because all of the times you posted

so far would mean nothing unless you can get that around your neck. The

season has started and finished with this competition. Everything before

was great in terms of setting me up for the future, it will lead to this

and it wouldn't have been the same if I didn't finish of the gold.

Let's look at you on the podium. You can see yourself of the aunt and

coming up. We will get that in a moment. We will get you a best bets

coming up. We have spoken to this season about how you have gotten her

because of so many disappointments over the last three years. To keep

going and have that perseverance you will be a poster boy for those kind

of people who are struggling with injuries and an appropriate times

and things come along that set people back so tell us about the

journey. I think we have so many talented British athletes that get

disturbed in their preparation through injury and the one thing you

have to try to hold onto is that talent is not going anywhere and if

you can fight through it you have support then it be worth it

eventually. I'm really lucky I was well supported for the last five

years without really offering a whole lot back in terms of results.

Every time there is a new competition by the athletes are

introduced into the arena at the women's pole vault is about to

underway so they are being brought him, you are part of that razzmatazz

yesterday evening, did you enjoy it? By friends takes me saying I looked

terribly awkward. Colin said he wouldn't write it either. I was

sheepish. I'm not sure I like it. Moving the event onwards, it's not

for me personally, I wouldn't have enjoyed it. I like to stay focused.

We like to see it in the relays in the world but this environment, this

whole indoor environment is very impersonal, you're next to other

events in close proximity so I imagine different levels of

concentration. The atmosphere is impossible to escape, as songs you

enjoy that and enjoy taking it all in then it is a great environment

for words. I like seeing the long jumper whatever is going around.

Tell me about what was going on with the false start yesterday and how it

was affecting athletes, a record number of false starts yesterday,

clearly there were technical problems, what was your awareness?

You saw my final so I was desperate not to be a part of that and I had

to in my heat and we didn't get away into the third time of asking so I

was very conscious going into it. Because I came in in good form, I

was expecting to not be walking off and to not raise within criminal. I

tried to be a little bit safe but it went too far I think. We were down

here when the women's event was happening and I think their work for

in that one. The crowd were just billing and it's the first time I've

experienced that much, even at lunch before coming down, everybody round

the table was talking about. To the morning so we were well aware. --

talking about the false starts in the morning. My starts had been my

best bit all year, this is the first time I've come from behind, normally

I'm good at hurdle won but it was new and a bit nervy I will be

honest. My heart stopped for a moment before kind of kicking into

overdrive and you can see there it is a bit messy but I was not going

to lose that one. It was tight there and there was a brilliant get but

what we were all impressed with was that you didn't panic and snatch at

the early hurdles. That was going to be a concern, when you're slightly

behind and you know, you kept a cool head and during the acceleration

phase you are beautifully clean and that sets you up well, then you can

chase. Let's have a look again, you can tell us about this. You can see

immediately at this point I was aware, I felt this was my race and I

got back in. A bit scrappy than I would've liked but I usually got up

to moving at a quick speed we did the analysis from the first hurdle

to the finish and it was maybe my best race of the season. I was

dealing with a lot of pressure to content. I just remember coming off

hurdle to thinking there is no way I'm winning this. So where do you go

to now? What are your plans and targets? I have to follow this up.

As you guys alluded to overran the quickest time in the world, the

three quickest times for the worlds, so really I'm going to have a couple

of days off and recover, go back into longer work and then make sure

we can last for ten hurdles over the 110 distance. And then when will you

start competing? We are going warm weather training at the end of March

to the start of May and potentially at the end of April. It all depends

I think. What a marvellous opportunity to be in this form with

the home while Championships Leeming in August. Half a chance of that

with London and the wheels came off but this is a different setup now.

I'm miles ahead in terms of preparation. We've gained so much

knowledge from the last few years in regards to training so we know what

is maybe risky for me in terms of the past races I've had and getting

the most out of it. We are admiring the shiny medal there, any story

about why it has so many sides, what is the history of the design, do you

know anything yet? You are asking the wrong person, I'm just happy to

be wearing it. We will have to find out. It's a beautiful thing and

hopefully the start of many for you, tell us about the team atmosphere

and what the guys and girls are feeling and what the hopes for today

and tomorrow? It's really strong and it's a really young team and with

that comes a lot of excitement. Quite a lot of people are here for

the first time and I almost feel slightly old on the team which is

saying something. The team atmosphere is great and only last

night a number of people are saying this is the best trip they have been

on, a lot of coaches who've been around for years. It is good and

we're here to get results and that is the most important thing, I'm

glad to have started a tough world. We have incredible athletes coming

today and tomorrow. You will be cheering them on from the site? Over

the next 24 hours and handing on to bellow the lion. It's a white lion.

I've been told it's a white lion. I don't know how I got confused

because up close it is clear. Keep hold of that, keep your medal close

and thank you so much, a great moment last night and many more over

the next 24 hours or so. Andy has certainly put a marker down for the

World Championships later this year, it promises to be a fantastic home

games. Bolt! He's done it. It's a new British record. It's a mammoth

job. A new world record. Sophie Hitchen what an effort. Elaine

Thompson has Olympic gold. It's huge. A new British record. He's

going to win the world title. A beautiful job. She has smashed the

British record. Mo Farrah wins the gold.

We are all looking forward to London, when we walked out of the

Olympic Stadium and the Olympic park five years ago, I remember thinking

we will be backed up while Championships and it was so far away

and here we are a season away. What is about it, and is summarised it,

he had a very different feeling of the Olympic Games and the Olympic

park for him in 2012, what and how his life has changed from that one

performance. He is so looking forward to those and now of course

he can be one of the poster boys. Absolutely has to keep fit and

strong and what a fantastic launch pad this is for him. And what he

said was he had to train smart and modify his training to make sure

that he gives himself a fighting chance and that is the maturity of

him and his team and that's what hopefully will keep him on track as

we head towards the Championships. Exciting times. Let's have a little

look back at what was going on this morning. The women's long jump

qualification this morning. Talk us through this. I have to say Lorraine

was relaxed going into the competition. She knew what she had

to do, her first attempt, you couldn't ask for more. A great

position. What's interesting, she knows she has come into the

competition being one of the big time favourites and that adds more

pressure. I'm pretty sure after that kind of jump she will be going all

right in the race, that good. Here she is. She is the poster girl,

there are 60 flirt posters of her outside Spanovic. Boy did she come

here and impress, roared on by the crowd that was here, powerful strong

running, accurate and look at that. Over seven metres. Automatic

qualification and job done. Brilliant. I was looking at her

social media and in her hotel room they have a picture of the number

seven which is the benchmark for world-class long jumping, she

cleared that in qualification so you know she will go well. This is

brilliant to see that. A home crowd victory is what he want to see and

when it is the poster girl, we knew what it was like when ingested

happening, she would do the same thing here and how exciting. Ugen is

in the final as well and that will push the athletes on. We saw in

Brazil how to upset the apple cart when you have the home favourite and

of course Great Britain has another athlete aiming to qualify. Jasmine

Sawyers who has been dividing her time between singing and long

jumping. Her eye is on her athletics. It needed to be, she was

struggling on the runway. I'm not used to seeing her like that. What

we do know is that when the chips are down she is able to raise her

game and bounceback. I can't imagine how she was feeling because she

didn't get automatic qualification, she was outside the top ten. She

needed to know this last charm. She squeezed them.

Third and final attempt was enough. She got into the Olympic final and

got herself up there in Championships, but she has kind of

done what she usually does. Yes and the most important thing we would

agree is she has qualified and she's there and she is there to fight

another day. This is the whole thing, the crowd will be there

screaming the whole time focusing on the long jump so this is a big

occasion for both of them. Indeed come and she is such a performer.

The Russian competing outside of her nationality because no Russian

competitors are allowed in international athletics so Klishina

comes under the exemption rule. Here she is qualifying for the final. The

green line is the qualification line. A goal that has gone over

seven metres on numerous occasions. She knows she's done enough. She is

calm looking but she is a beautiful runner. She could challenge Spanovic

for the medals. She will be part of an interesting competition, she will

be there, won't she? No doubt about it, that is what you want to see.

These women are just doing the qualification, I say just, but now

they can really let loose in the final. Those first two jumps will be

vital and that will set up the whole competition. But as my speak to Tony

in the infield. You are watching on the red button and commentating on

the qualifying competition. Tell us about your thoughts of who you think

will be pushing the whole competition all the way in the end?

It is going to be a fantastic atmosphere with Spanovic, the home

crowd will be out and we imagine it will be a pact stadium. Spanovic is

the favourite, jumped over seven metres. I think she got a buzz from

the crowd and the additional adrenaline you get from playing at

home. She has coped with the runway better, it is bouncy out here and a

soft service on top of the bounce. It is whether you keep the foot on

the floor along enough that you get the absorption and get the bounce

back as it worth. If you run quicker and your foot is on and off the

floor it is a bit harder and it might affect the quicker runners. If

you look at somebody like Lorraine Ugen, not that quick at the board

but with the power she generates on the board, it is incredible. She has

certainly put herself in with a shot. And then of course the young

lady, the ex-Russian, the Russian girl based in America, has thrown

the cat amongst the pigeons. Because of that that is where the medals

will come from, probably those three. Thank you, Tony. Let's hear

from Lorraine Ugen, the British champion who comfortably qualified

and looked good this morning. She spoke to fill afterwards. What a

performance. One jump, straight through to the

final and a season's best, there has got to be thrilling. -- Phil.

Definitely come I felt good in the warm up, I felt comfortable and the

jump came out comfortably. Are you the kind of athlete who inherently

knows how that will happen on any given day? Do you wake up thinking

this could be my day? It depends, sometimes I can be unsure in the

warm up and go out there and jump something crazy, or other times like

today I felt good in the warm up and felt confident, and the first jump

was pretty easy for me so I know there is more in the tank. What's it

like? What is the environment like? With Spanovic competing and lots of

Serbian fans it seems lots of focus was on your event today. Yes, the

crowd has been all right. There was nothing... I didn't get a count, I

only got one jump I didn't see the crowd reception but tomorrow I will

have a better idea of how the crowd will feel. In terms of the runway

and everything, you seemed to take to it straightaway. What was it

like? It is really nice, I would compare it to the way the runway was

at the world indoors, it was bouncy and I felt I could float on it and

it is comfy for me. You can draw on what you did last year with the

fantastic performance and the medal, for the final here. That is what I'm

here for 100%, to grab a medal. I wish you well for the final. Thank

you and thank you to our sponsor for keeping us going in the track and

field career. Cheers, thank you. No problem.

It should be said perhaps sometimes because she had her appearance on

The Voice and she made an Olympic final and is a great athlete but

that kind of profile on a Saturday night means Lorraine maybe doesn't

get talked about so much and gets overshadowed and Shara Proctor, she

has been jumping in her shadow as well that this could be her stage.

It could be and there are so many personalities in track and field.

She is just an unassuming a quiet, lovely person who lets her jumping

do the talking. She got a stunning bronze last year at the world indoor

Championships and knows what she is capable of doing. Season's best

here, she has the ability to raise her game on the occasions. She can

be inaccurate on the board at times but I know she is confident at the

moment, she has been working hard and is ready for this one. Yes, spot

on. She is so talented. Sometimes the event is so talented. There is a

rich pool of talent. The only thing you can do is keep jumping well and

winning those medals, that's the most important thing. Let's hear

from her team-mate Jazmin Sawyers who did the qualification by the

skin of her teeth. Safely through in the end, you

showed what competitive instincts you have two bullet out in the third

round like you did. I would love to stop scraping through two finals,

honestly. The plan we talked about, try and get one jump, 6.60 plus

because I'm in that kind of shape but I wasn't getting it right and my

consistency is not there. As much as I'm learning I can jump far I'm

still getting my consistency right and I'm not quite there yet in terms

of up with these other girls jumping 6.80, 6.90 easily, I am still not

there and we need to figure it out. Tell me what went through your mind

when you needed to pull the jump out because you were in ninth position

at that point. I were standing on the runway telling myself not to go

home, you haven't come here to make three jumps. After I got out of the

pit I thought you might be getting three jumps. But at the end of the

day I've done the job. The point is to get the final and I'm in the

final and everything can change tomorrow. We have seen what the four

successive years, once you are in a final we know what damage you can

do. The hardest thing for me is getting to the final and that has

been the case a number of times, I never seem to breeze through to the

final, this is always the case. I'd love to change that but I'd still

like to be the person who scrapes through to the final and wins

medals. It is going to be exciting because Spanovic, who you know well,

she does a street event. Yes, in September and it was crazy. Amazing

crazy, people here love her and love long jump so people are coming here

excited to see her, you should have heard the noise when she was in. I'm

excited for tomorrow. Enjoy it. Thank you.

I'm pleased she is in the final because she is the kind of athlete

who loves all of that, she loves performing, we know that, when the

atmosphere is rocking we will see the big jumps come out of her. We

will because she is an athlete that seems to thrive on, I don't know if

it is pressure that she wants, but being the underdog seems to ignite

this fire in her belly that gets her across the line when it really

matters. She doesn't like being in that position. She would love to

have qualified out right easily. But there is just something that

happens, whether it is in qualification for Championships or

trying to get into the medals you see the best of her when she is

absolutely under pressure. I love the fact that she did a very honest

interview with Phil. She said what is frustrating her, she knows she

can get those big jumps out, and she knows the others are doing what they

are doing and why can't I quite get there? She will get there but the

most important thing is getting into the final and she does that most of

the time. It doesn't matter how you do it, you get in there and now she

leaves herself the opportunity to jump well in the final. She is a

pocket rocket, the smallest in the field of the long jump. We saw huge

jumps as well, size is not necessarily the absolute on the long

jump. Will that limit how far she can jump ultimately in terms of

pushing seven metres? Also, different surfaces will suit her.

This one is very bouncy and springy on the board, some people would

prefer to jump off the board. The way that Jazmin Sawyers jumps is she

is explosive of the board which could help her in a circumstance

like this. It could be 6.80, 6.90 she can do ultimately. I think

mechanics are mechanics, good mechanics can afford you a lot, and

she has just changed her coach, well, not just, but she's been

working in Birmingham and she has left her long-term coach who guided

her to all of those medals. I think now she is learning some new

techniques, a new setup and she will find her way but she must be

patient. She has certainly got the bit between her teeth in this one so

let's hope she can pull out a big one. Another area where Britain is

blessed with talent at the moment is the high jump, three men going for

qualification earlier today. Let's start with Allan Smith and another

one who has a very relaxed approach to his qualification. This is him

clearing 2.25 in qualifying for the final tomorrow. That was such a

smooth jumper, wasn't it? What we have seen with our team, all of them

are believing in their abilities now. They can jump high, they can

produce when it matters, and it is good domestic competition. When you

have world-class competition it will only drive you on. There is a real

sense of responsibility, I can jump that height, I can do it any day of

the week and he just managed to do that. This is Chris Kandu going at

2.25. It was his third attempt at 2.25. Look at that reaction. I just

love it. I was watching some of the high jump competition. They were

getting great support from the crowd. It's about embedding yourself

in this atmosphere. When you are young and new to all of this, just

like Chris, it can be overwhelming. But he tried to use that, got over

the bar, job done for him. Excellent work. And then Robbie

Grabarz, of course, who has an Olympic medal to his name amongst

others, and came fourth in Rio as well. This was his first attempt at

2.25. He's been here on many occasions, as we know. Really easy

qualifying jump there. Huge relief, looking very happy. The coach-

athlete relationship is what we have talked about in previous shows and

it's so important. He got the best out of Robbie, he hit a low point

after the Olympic bronze medal a few years ago, got him back on track. He

has had a bit of a setback with the appendix surgery. Here he is, he

knows how to qualify. And then we have Chris Kandu here at 2.28

because he just missed out on 2.25 so he had to keep jumping. 2.28.

There is the crowd, he has the support, he's getting the emotion

for this and the feel for the event and he is full of confidence, going

to have a go but not quite got the height this time. Really frustrated

with that. But what you learn by it, you know and gaining experience

every single time. Of course, he will be disappointed that he

slightly missed out on that particular jump but it is all

knowledge, it is in the bank. None of these disappointments are things

that you marked down as failure, never, ever. This is why it is so

important, as Tony highlighted earlier, getting a clean sheet early

makes a big difference and he has fallen victim to that. The Italian,

2.28, his first attempt, Chesani and we can agree this was an impressive

jump. It was. The Italians have produced some great high jumpers

recently. They are in great form. One of their jumpers was injured

last season but here is another man who knows the jump and the technique

and he is in the groove. We keep going on about them learning all the

time but the sense of confidence these athletes are gaining from

jumping high and in these situations, look at the reaction of

the coach, very pleased, he knows he has done very well. We are building

up to the men's 60-metre semi-finals. Richard Kilty, the

reigning indoor champion is out there at the moment, there he is in

lane four, that's the first time we have seen the athletes on the track

this evening and we hope for Richard's sake he can get up there

and be a Euro star once again because Great Britain has great

heritage in the indoors. Linford Christie getting ready for

the final of the fastest qualifier. The start is so important. Linford

Christie's weakest spot. If he gets a good one he could win. Away

first-time and Christie away badly. Christie is storming through and

Christie takes the gold. And he takes it from a standing start. The

final of the European 60 metres indoor Championships. Christie got

away reasonably well. Christie comes storming through. Christie wins and

he takes the European title. Richard Kilty, we heard him talking

earlier about his intent to retrain his crown and he may have to fend

off the other Brits. They were the strongest runners today, three of

the top four times when two British athletes. You would expect all three

to qualify for the final? Let that the false start out of our mind.

Richard is in there. The more favourable of the semis and who

should get through comparably with fourth fastest winners getting

through to the final. He's in a good position. What I like about Richard

is his focus. Keeping that in check, we saw him handling his blocks

making sure they are in place. How hard is it, you race to get in the

final and you can't think of conserving anything back from final

later, you have to secure your qualification? You have to security

but he would look down the list and would say I'm the man in this. The

confidence that is is out, especially for sprinters, you have

to believe and be strong and he will come out like a rocket. He knows

this is his favourite event, he is strong over 60, he is compact and

solid, his technique is good and he knows the start is crucial. He has

been in this situation so many times Richard Kilty, world indoor champion

of course, defending European indoor champion and should he get through,

we expect him to get through to the final, it will take place just

before 8pm this evening. Was this one of your golds in your

predictions? Of course and I am very confident. I walked to the team

hotel and I bumped into Richard getting on the bus, ferry relaxed I

would say. I think the point from Denise was right, it is definitely

the easier of the two semis and he knows his main threat is from other

British athletes. He will want to finish this to send a sign to

everyone, the final a bit later on this evening. Three minutes to eight

UK time. Kielty in the middle. Some others to look out for is Rantala in

claim one. Bah from Sweden, former Gambian athletes, Sweden are

starting to get an athletics team again, Mancini was in the heat where

the Danish guy pulled up and came through and then Richard Kilty the

defending champion, former world champion let's not forget that.

Ready to go. He looks confidence. He looks very self assured, Veleba from

the Czech Republic. He is in five and then next to him and improving

young athlete Hamilton. From Sweden, not a very Swedish name, originally

from Jamaica but moved to Sweden when he was nine and at 19 years of

age, a new personal best this morning. Improving all the time.

Menga of Germany. Running well this year. 6.6 six. And then Suprun from

Ukraine. With all honesty, unless Richard Kilty has a false start or

trips up there should be a fairly straightforward qualification for

him? Neither of those will happen will they? Why are you looking at me

as if I shouldn't have said that? So Richard that gets through comparably

and then focus on the final later on. He doesn't even really need to

make a good start the he wants to keep the run going and needs to make

sure he has a good centre lane. The first semifinal of the men 60

metres. Richard Kilty is into his run, he will win this one at ease.

6.59, very impressive, didn't need to make the blistering start and was

safe out of the blocks but how impressive was he once got moving.

Really good. I think from everything he said he needed to do, he

delivered. He is full of swagger and confidence and good form I think we

can say now. That was much quicker than this morning, still playing it

safe out of the blocks, 658. A strong performance from Richard,

remember he is very much at home indoors. Really executes every part

of the 60-metre race very well when he's in good form and shape.

Shutdown were ten metres to go so you know he's very close to the 6.50

mark. Didn't stress, didn't strain, very confident in what he's doing.

Gets back on the soldiers of Mancini, no stress and very good

indeed. A man in good form, in good shape, glances across to the clerk

as he always does. -- clock. Bank, out he goes. He works hard for this

first 10-15 metres so he can get into the nice bouncing rhythm that

is going to be important to haul himself through. Leaving himself

nice and relaxed, no stress or strain Andy Goode qualifier. The

fast starting Mancini got through with Austin Hamilton and Bah going

through. He's in good shape and a good place and now he can

concentrate on the final. Confirmation. There are the other

three going three, no fastest loser, just the top four and the next semi

will be in a few minutes. Coming up of course in the next semi

final, Andrew Robertson and Theo Etienne. Andrew Robertson, British

champion and 20 years old, five foot four and this is big experience for

him going in lane six. A big championship experience. He

navigated well earlier through the heat and hats and swagger about him

didn't see? He had swagger, he had confidence and he rightly should be.

He ran well, kept all of his expectations in check and he knows

what he has to do. Robertson a former rugby player, turned his

attention to sprinting and has raced alongside Richard Kilty his whole

life, all in the north of England sprinting circuit, races for sale

and he is a great competitor and was talking about is not just the rest

of the field but loving the idea there would be this British

head-to-head. British champion, I think Robertson gives us a bit of

spice. The head-to-head is what the sport thrives on and I'm sure it's

friendly rivalry, they have known each other for a long time that this

is serious to go full, medals are on the line here. Let's get to the

commentary team. This looks to be more taxing taxing semifinal

although Robertson and are quick enough to go through here. There is

the line-up. The experienced Italian and Lopez from Portugal, moved in

2013. The 19-year-old from Romania ran 6.69 taking the title in

Bucharest a few weeks ago. Alongside him it is the UK champion, always

played it safe, sat in the box this morning and might not be up to get

away with that. He will definitely to get out sharper. Tumi and other

indoor experts, short and powerful and has finished third and fourth

last season. Not so quick this season. Another youngster in the

season, Volko who finished second to Richard Kilty in the first heat. And

then we move to Etienne who seems to be taking it all in his stride this

morning. Very composed. Job done and moved on. Sweden could have three

men in the final, Rose has been Swedish champion before but not this

year. And Rene the slender hopes of France, fico not running at all.

So straightforward first four to the final and the final in about an hour

and 15 minutes time. Richard Kilty winning 6.58. Robertson said he cost

himself a good deal of time with the start in the heats and Theo Etienne,

both winners of the heat as was Richard Kilty. So...

Robertson and side-by-side almost. Etienne takes it and perhaps Volko

gets in. Etienne impressed most of all in the latter stages of that

race. Robertson was out of their least sharply but Volko came through

well, the youngster, that was most impressive so there will be three

Brits in the final, we will look to see whether Swede was, it should be

an interesting final to say the least. Volko 6.59 to take it. Strong

performance from the young man. He is here and he means business. The

winning time of 6.59, he announced himself very well here. Worked hard

out of the blocks, drove all the way, good driving faith. You don't

worry about coming up into that upright sprinting and running, you

can drive for at least 40 metres and limit the time to get into full

running mode and this menace doing that well indeed. Watching Andrew as

well, on the right of the screen, didn't react as well as he knows he

can. Managed to get himself through to the final, another good

performance 6.63. It is another semifinal and he is coming in fresh

for the final now, he has a race under his belt and I'm really

excited. I'm still happy. Three Swedes have gone through because

Rose made it through as well. Robertson easing over the line a

little bit. Outrun thereby Etienne and Volko getting second-place.

Three Brits in the final and they have qualified and qualified well.

There is still a chance of a British one, two, three in the final.

Robertson will have two really go for it, I know it is risky with the

starts but he will be there to compete and there are the

qualifiers. Volko getting amongst the British athletes. Three Britons,

three Swedes, a Swiss athlete and Volko from Slovakia. And that is

just before 9pm local time so a to B M UK. -- 8pm. Just over two hours

for those guys to get themselves off to the cooler room, I'm not sure

what the situation is underneath is, we have not been allowed and the

stadium but there will be some warm up area and they will put some piece

of clothing over the head, lie down and try to chill out for a while? It

is so key. In such a short space of time all of them have to get their

head down and make sure that they are just visualising one or two

points that make a difference. We spoke about the start from Robertson

and it needs to improve. His reaction time was 1.8, obviously

slowest in his race. .1504 Richard Kilty.

Cautious, shall we say? Cautious but they just have to go for it now,

trust that all of the problems with the start are behind us and they are

in the mix and they are so close now, it's just keeping that mind

focused and not allowing it to wander and thinking about those

medals before they have run. Colin Jackson predicted one, two, three

for Great Britain, we will nail down the order in a moment. The women's

triple jump is going on. The geography of this place is

fascinating because it is alongside the women's pole vault that's going

on at the moment. It is brilliant to see them side-by-side in that

competition. Steve Backley. It is tight out there. Triple jump

on the far side. The Britons still holds the championship record in

that event. Here is a look at Kristin Gierisch, the world indoor

silver-medallist, the German athlete in the second round. The lead at

this stage, the Portuguese, 14.24, Patricia Mamona, the German chasing

that Mark produced a few centimetres beyond that lead. So, Gierisch

produced a season's best here in qualification, second-best overall

in qualification, Gierisch. That was 14.3 thousand for another season is

best to take the lead. In the second round. You could throw a hat over

the top five athletes, just ten centimetres separates them on paper

prior to the competition. Gierisch, the lead, with 14.37. This is

Patricia Mamona of Portugal, European silver-medallist, sixth in

Rio last year. This is round three, looking to wrestle her lead back. As

I said she was leading at the end of the first round.

14.25, season's best she did in the opening jump. In this round, slight

improvement, 14.29, still shy of Gierisch. Just went up on that hop,

come down hard. And so Papahristou of Greece, world

indoor medallist from Portland a year ago. Good extension. One, two,

three, really close there. This is also a third-round effort. So this

is Papahristou, 14.24, just shy of Mamona and 15 centimetres back of

the lead of Gierisch, very close indeed when it comes down to those

centimetres. Season's best, very consistent, that might tee her up

for something good later in the competition. Jagaciak Michalska, of

Poland, her fourth round jump, look at that, bang on those three lines

that denote the one, two, three position. Jagaciak Michalska, 27

years of age, finalist last year. That was 14.14 metres, enough for

fourth place, very competitive triple jump final indeed.

Next up on the track in about 40 minutes is the women's and men's 800

metres semifinals in just under an hour's time Laura Muir has her first

assault on gold in the 1500 metres. Earlier today Paula was out for her

run as she always is but this time we sent a camera with her and she

told us exactly what Laura must do to win her first major gold.

Laura could remember the city of Belgrade for the rest of her career,

the place where she earned that elusive first senior medal, and it

all starts with the 1500 metres. It's going to be tight on the line

but Laura Muir makes sure. Laura has looked amazing all year

and really strong in qualifying. The first thing she needs to do is think

only about the 1500 metres, stay in the present.

Little dumb middle-distance races indoors can be particularly

physical. The second thing Laura needs to do is stay out of trouble

-- middle-distance races. Finally, Laura is in excellent position.

She's stronger and quicker than the others and she knows what to do. She

just needs to stick to the plan and not get complacent. We all know that

it all comes down to what happens on the day. But I firmly believe

Laura's in excellent shape and perfectly poised to be our star in

Belgrade. And then she carried on for about

another 14 miles or so. I had a lie in. We shouldn't underestimate how

big a platform this could be to launch Laura into the global metals.

She was very close in Rio, wasn't she? Not just an outside bet for a

medal but the race went another way, perhaps if it had gone a different

way that date she would have been up there and she has been knocking on

the door for a while, last year she was breaking medals and this could

be a huge year in her career. It's important for her to produce at the

highest level here. We know she can run very fast, she knows she can run

very fast so the most important thing for her is to win these titles

now. It is a big challenge and she is more than capable. Laura said you

have to do one race at a time. We had an eye on some other talent, the

Nielsen twins who did so well in the British Championships.

Nielsen chasing Amy Doyle, digging into the line, and it is the

Nielsens behind her on the podium. I went into the trials wanting to be

top two, Lina didn't have it. I wasn't expecting to compete at the

trials two weeks before and I had a disappointing race. I decided to do

the trials and thought I should aim for the Europeans. Would you be on

the team in the relay together? The relay would be amazing. We won medal

last time. That was in the juniors? Yes, it's great to have the team

atmosphere in the relay but have a member of your family is beyond

incredible. What about sharing the same event? You couldn't be better

friends, twin sisters, but you are friendly rivals. She was elbowing me

around the first bend and I was thinking, what is going on? When we

go into a race and I see her in my vision I don't think of her as my

twin sister anymore. When we go into the race is on we are just different

competitors. On the date she is not my twin sister anymore. As soon as

the races over she's like what did you do, where did you come? What

about away from the track? Do you have the famous twin telepathy

thing, or are you not on the same wavelength at all? We have one thing

that we find it strange which is that we share each other's memories

which sounds strange. I will have a story and I think it is me who has

been in that position and I said, do you remember the time I was in this

position and she says it was me. We do share each other's memories but

that is the only thing. I carried Jessica Ennis's it in the 200 metres

heptathlon and I remember coming out and the crowd going wild before she

had even run and I remember seeing her face and she was so focused and

I remember thinking how is she doing this? She has been an inspiration

ever since and I would love to be on the same stage. I carried a kit for

the same race but carried it for the lane outside Jessica Ennis but we

came away from that race saying that could be us if we put our minds to

it and train for it. It's been five years now but I don't think we can

quite imagine what the crowd would be like. I know it will be amazing,

the British crowd is incredible. We would love to be on that track and

running on the track would be a dream come true.

Sadly that was done before you came out here and sadly, Lina, you had to

pull out the night before the championships started. We can see

that you have a brace on your foot. Tell us about why you had to pull

out. On the way here at the airport walking through was quite painful so

when we arrived I went to see the physios and they did an ultrasound

and suspected there was a stress fracture but we couldn't confirm

that until we have the MRI in the morning and it turned out to be a

great two stress response, so the grade just before a fracture and the

doctors and physio said it was too much stress. They made the decision

to pull me out. How long will you be out for? I am in the boot for about

two weeks and doing conditioning and rehab and then should be running.

They have caught it early so I'm thankful. It was the right thing to

do but you will be desperately disappointed you couldn't be here

performing on the stage with your twin sister who in an hour's time...

I'm already nervous for her. You share memories, you will share some

incredible memories of these few days if things go well for her. What

is a mindset like and how is she feeling? A mindset is to die on the

line, she has said it so many times, I spoke to my coach and she said she

will not treat it as anything other than another 400 and put her biggest

effort in and go for another medal. She has to go out hard, you don't

want to see her being jostled, especially the way it is indoors.

The way she has run, in the UK trials and in Birmingham, she's

gutsy and determined. She has just gone for it here and said I know I

need to take these races by the horns and be in control. And when to

react. I think she will run the same way and I would be surprised if she

doesn't because it is so important to establish herself in the race

early on. She is in lane three so it will be difficult and she is going

out hard. Has she articulated the colour of a medal or the aim of a

medal? I only saw her at breakfast and lunch, I left her alone to deal

with her emotions and focus on her race, she hasn't got a colour in

mind, just wants a top three spot. She is going for a medal? She's

definitely going for a medal, yes. The two of you have been a great

freshener, great to see young talent coming through, especially two twin

sisters competing in the same event. Your poor parents, could one of you

have done something a bit different? That is double the heartache for

them. It must have been desperately disappointing for them when you had

to pull out. My mum called me and said don't worry, you will be back.

Just keep your head up and she has been supportive. For you, the

addition of the hurdles in the summer, is that right? Yes, I've

been training over hurdles which may have been the main problem with this

foot injury. I was going to ask you because I know it is the hurdles.

Where you completely unaware before the championships? Yes, couple of

weeks ago it felt like a small bruise on the side of my leg and I

thought I had my leg on the table. I was just walking through the

airport. Such a surprise. It is a wise decision everybody is making.

You have to look at your career in the long-term. Not just now. You

want to be out there and competing. If you look at somebody like

Andreozzi what he has done and how he turned career around, that must

be an inspiration. Yes, he came out to me afterwards and gave me advice

and that was really nice and he is an athlete I look up to, definitely.

What else have you taken from this experience, Lina? Being around a

team at a major championship is invaluable. I learned a lot, I

didn't expect it to be such an official event. It is very well

structured and formal, so I've learned lot a and I know what to

expect the next time. It is a big year, for British athletes to have a

home championships in the Olympic Stadium where we saw you carrying

baskets in 2012. Was there a lot of thought about where the hair was

going to go that day? We were told we had to wear the cap and so my

sister wore her hair with the ponytail on the side. How old were

you? 16. It is good those kind of mistakes get fully documented these

days. Yes! You will treasure those memories for ever and now you are

doing incredible things on the track and we hope to see you back in the

summer. Do you have a target date for competition? Mid-May, late

April. We will have to postpone that until late or mid-May but we will

see. Keep calm. Thank you for coming to see us and I am sure we will

speak to you many more times in the months and years ahead. Back out to

be 800-metre men and women taking to the track. The women's semifinals

first and Steve Cram is at the microphone.

Two semifinals. The second might be slightly tougher but I am sure that

Shelayna Oskan-Clarke will find her way through. Staying with the Dutch

team, coached by one of the Dutch coaches. I have forgotten his

name... But, she is making good pace and has

been a prodigious talent, goodness me Hinriksdottir is only 21 but

broken all sorts of records, most recently broke an Icelandic record

and she will be a threat in the final. So she is in blame for and

against the, a field which she would look at and would be happy to be in

the semifinal. Verstegen was in the race that Laura

Meer broke the record in Birmingham but she got a Dutch record of over

1000 metres and talking about a thousand metres, the rare road a

week after tried to break the record in Spain, ran slower but is she was

in that race and ran an impressive 2.15 en route to her thousand metre

time so could be a threat here. Has an strength as well and you need

that. The top three to go through. Another busy night in the infield

and they are tidying up around the track and you can see the

photographers here and everybody being asked to keep well away from

the inside, just checking positions and they'll all watching the pole

vault and triple jump. It is crowded down here. The men's 800 semis

coming up after this, Kyle Lankford going in the first of one of those.

And as I said Shelayna Oskan-Clarke in the second of the semifinals. I

can translate that. They starts were coming up, we were talking about

that race, an incredible run. Seems so long ago. Verstegen on the

outside, 31 years of age but a new personal best this year. No real

favourite I would say in the women's 800, a wide open race, Guerrero will

have confidence from the performance, Verstegen looks a

little bored, she has folding her arms and they are her trademark, she

is improving and the one thing she is doing is developing more pace and

acceleration, Tkachuk from Ukraine 2.157 eight PB set in France earlier

this season. From Luxembourg Mathias and won the French indoor

Championships and then Troest who made the semifinal of this event two

years ago and will be looking to go one better here. Hinriksdottir was

down with our British contingent and we were watching her doing drills

and speed work, really working on her stride try to shorten her stride

to develop the acceleration. She does have a long low bestride if you

like but I think she is working on that a lot and is beginning to get

results all ready. The first of two semifinals. Verstegen spent all of

her early career front running but she doesn't always do that now --

Hinriksdottir. You can see she has gone off hard but will let some us

maybe do the work. She knows she has a bit more pace and doesn't have to

go and take it out hard. I wonder if that is the influence of her coach.

She is well-known to sit at the back of the field and at the race unfold

that you can see on Hinriksdottir's face it is hard for her to do this.

She is naturally more relaxed at the front and is comfortable in this

race today. Doesn't see a huge threat in making the top three and

wants to run back to her old ways. It's partly because of the arm carry

and the legs. To meet she moves better now, she has been working on

her all-round strength and Guerrero in her shoulder and Verstegen on the

inside. This is not fast but not slow and all of a sudden putting a

bit of pressure on. This is what she did yesterday in the heats. She ran

a fast 200 there but was able to mix the pace. So much stronger now than

in the past and instead of being at the front of the race, looking as

though she is desperately running away from them. Just a bit of

acceleration as Guerrero comes to her shoulders. Three to go through.

Verstegen holding the inside and are starting to turn it on a little bit,

the Spaniard staying on her shoulder. Hinriksdottir has to use

an strength. There is no fastest loser spot. Hinriksdottir is where

she is from the beginning, Guerrero has a look behind and realises

danger. Hinriksdottir find some extra that she has to keep running

to the line. Verstegen run out in the end and Guerrero was working

hard. Hinriksdottir ran out of steam at the end. Guerrero full of smiles.

That's hard work. They all made that look hard work, a decent pace. Maybe

Hinriksdottir's search was a bit too much. Certainly at the semifinal

stage because she pushed under was starting to tie up significantly in

the last 50 metres, you can see the expression and how Guerrero is

fighting and the battle with Verstegen losing out and she will be

disappointed having run a Dutch record earlier this season. Well

Troest has done better than this time last year. Hinriksdottir after

giving a lot of positive thoughts just fading at the end but the three

are through with confirmation. Guerrero the winner, Hinriksdottir

second and Troest joins them in the final. While we are in the final

round of this triple jump. It's Shire. That would be success it

seems. That hands the European title to Gierisch. She will have a jump

anyway. She ready has a European lead. Just drifted in to that. I

think the celebrations had already begun and finally it has hit her.

Gold for Gierisch, silver in the indoor World Championships last

year. Only a few centimetres separating the top three. Look at

all the files. -- fouls. Gold to Germany. Well I guess when you have

had a silver medal, that has been her major achievement, 11th and

Olympics last year, golden Europe, clearly means so much. And here are

the final standings. A leading performance for Gierisch and what is

it, 13 centimetres separating the top three. Coming up next on the

track is the second semi of the women's 800 metres. Shelayna

Oskan-Clarke for Great Britain. She made the final in Beijing and was a

semifinalist in Rio and what do you think are the challenges for indoors

800, we saw in the last race with it having more bands and laps, what are

the challenges faced? What we have seen so far in all of the races is

that if you get caught out then it is difficult to overtake on the band

and get on the inside lane which is where the athletes like to be, you

run less distance, we know Shelayna Oskan-Clarke will hit the front

because that is what we have seen from her before and she has to hold

on, she knows what she has to do. Her strength is her self belief. She

is a gutsy runner and is going to have to prove this here. Let's go to

the commentators. Perhaps not the easiest semifinal for Shelayna

Oskan-Clarke. The first semi was won by the Spaniard inside 2.03, but

good competition here for Shelayna Oskan-Clarke. Good lane drop for

Oskan-Clarke in lane five. The Slovakian champion Stukova. On the

outside Velvere normally a hurdler but don't discount her.

Oskan-Clarke, not a quick race but judged well, did what was required

and has a habit as you are mentioning in the studio of

delivering in the Championships. The defending champion from Switzerland

Buchel, perhaps the favourite but a very open event this. Has gone close

to going below two minutes indoors this season which is very fast. The

European bronze-medallist in Amsterdam last summer, finished

ahead of Oskan-Clarke in the Birmingham meeting a fortnight ago.

And Clarice Moh a new indoor personal best this season. And the

Slovakian athlete on the inside Stukova. Champion at two, four and

800 metres a good range. And again a reminder when you are running 800

indoors just watch for the competition at the break and

healthiest it gets on this type track but Oskan-Clarke has a habit

as we have said of delivering when the stakes are higher and producing

her best performances, this is the second semifinal. Three go to for

the final. Lindh, Buchel. It is a strong fast start from Oskan-Clarke.

Oskan-Clarke tucking in behind. Trying to ease her way through on

the inside but settles for second place. She put her arm up to say if

you're going to go to the friend you have to put your arms up and do it,

you can't cut in on me like that. She works her way around back in

front and out of trouble and for me Oskan-Clarke has a tough feat today.

She needs to run it as if it is a final. She does not need to think

about the final, just races harder she can. In sometimes it is a

straight three through to the final, Lindh moving around on the outside

as well. Losing a bit of touch with the first five at the moment.

Slowed through the first 400 metres which opens up the race, two girls

who wouldn't be there if the race was faster, somebody like Moh, even

Valverde, not accustomed to racing like this. -- Velvere. Lindh is

digging in. She might be a danger. Up on the shoulder of Oskan-Clarke

and Buchel moving up alongside Velvere who might have spent all of

her energy with the boost up inside Oskan-Clarke. Lindh is there is --

as well. Lindh has a good race. Good win by Shelayna Oskan-Clarke through

to the final as a winner. Velvere paid the price force of three go

through and at the head of them Shelayna Oskan-Clarke with a very

good race. Very good and she has been spiked, I think she is checking

her leg. She was caught a couple of times by Velvere and hopefully she

can get their looked at and get into a cool down and get ready for the

final where she deserves to be. She judged her race really well, she

controlled it, we were worried over the first 400 metres. She was a bit

slow. She held off her opponents and Lindh might have still been there.

Luckily at this stage Velvere was tiring. She was not looking around,

just making sure she guaranteed her place. There we are, Velvere.

Oskan-Clarke drifted a bit and thought she could get through, this

is where the spiking might have happened. Maybe she might also have

caught Buchel's spiked unintentionally because she was

shoved aside by Velvere. No actual huge shove and nothing that would

warrant any kind of disqualification and that would have been to Velvere

for pushing her way through on the inside. If you see a gap you are

entitled to take it as long as you don't impede the others. Good last

lap from Shelayna Oskan-Clarke, she goes through as the winner. Shelayna

Oskan-Clarke, Buchel and Lindh, the three that joined the others from

the other heat moving through to the final tomorrow. She is now talking

to us. After a performance like that, understandably a bit

breathless but thank you for talking to us after the race, Shelayna.

Even when you were jostled you regained control. I thought that

would happen because the girls were a bit closer time wise so I thought

they would be more competitive. I couldn't afford to let them go. I

just had to hold my line. You said yesterday that the nature of

800-metre running, there is some jostling. Sneaking up the inside.

There wasn't really a gap, she went up the inside but it didn't affect

me too much. It might have affected her a lot more but I held myself

together and thought I just didn't want them to get in front of me.

It's a lot harder to fight your way back. To take the victory going into

the final beating the defending champion in the process, what does

that do for confidence? It gives me confidence. I think I'm competitive

against her anyway. Thinking and doing it, feeling good going through

the rounds, is a different thing. It's nice to go into the final

knowing I can be competitive, especially on the Sprint. We are

looking forward to seeing the final, well done on this performance. Thank

you. STUDIO: You can see on the infield

the pole vault is underway, these are the athletes contesting for the

title. Most notably Stefanidi and watch out for the Finnish jumper,

Murto, just 18 years of age. Would contest. No Brits. First up is

Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden, fourth in the World Championships two years

ago. 4.55. That looked very comfortable. Five centimetres shy of

her season's best. Ten centimetres between heights as the bar is raised

between successful efforts at these early heights. That reduces to five

centimetres as the bar gets higher. Bengtsson coming European

bronze-medallist indoor and out, looking good. Lisa Ryzih of Germany.

She has seen Bengtsson go clear. That all German, European

bronze-medallist a few years ago, silver-medallist two years ago. She

is ranked second coming into this competition behind the Olympic

champion. That is a good clearance for her at the same height of 4.55.

So, Ryzih checking her take-off foot, not of the head, getting

comfortable, getting orientated. We talked about how tight the infield

is here, and getting your bearings is so important. Looking very tidy

indeed, Lisa Ryzih, a contender for the title, for sure. I mention the

Olympic champion their, Ekaterini Stefanidi but she carries a foul.

She is very consistent. Good effort at her second attempt. 4.82, she has

jumped this year, she says she is in 4.90 shape and she says she wants

the championship record which is 4.90 but more work to be done.

Tidied up the error from the first attempt. Stefanidi looking good.

STUDIO: The men are on the track waiting for their turn at the 800

metres semifinals and it is Kyle Langford going for Great Britain in

the first of those semifinals. Steve Cram, he will want to improve on his

tactics from the heats. Yes, he will. He was a tad