European Athletics (EAA) – News – Göteborg 2013 medals aspirants line-up at Glasgow International Match

A new venue stages its biggest athletics meeting tomorrow when the Emirates Arena in Glasgow hosts one of the top indoor events of the season.

The British Athletics Glasgow International Match takes place in a setting which will be one of the focal points for the Commonwealth Games in the city next year when it is used as cycling's velodrome.

But for many of the competitors tomorrow, their minds will be on the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Göteborg in March as selection dates draw closer.

Britain will be led by Robbie Grabarz, the European champion from Helsinki last summer. But they face tough opposition from Germany, Russia, the USA and a team from the Commonwealth countries.

A crowd of 5,000 is expected and for Grabarz, a chance to further enhance his growing reputation which soared in 2012 with his glory in Finland which preceded his bronze medal at the Olympic Games in London.

He was stunned when Peter Eriksson, the new head coach of UK Athletics, asked him to be skipper.

"It's an honour to captain your country," said Grabarz, 25, "And when I first got a call from Peter, it was a bit of a shock.

"I thought I'd done something wrong!

"But as soon as he told me, I was delighted. Hopefully I can inspire everyone.

"With good team spirit combined with a relaxed approach, we'll see some good performances out there."

Grabarz was a brilliant example last year of how to turn your career around. He had lost his funding from UK Athletics but was inspired enough to show how good he could become, winning in Helsinki with 2.31m to secure the first major gold medal of his career.

Rolling the clock back to Helsinki is one of the reasons why the women's 800m, one of 21 events tomorrow, should be among the most competitive.

The European Athletics Championships saw the breakthrough of Lynsey Sharp as she finished second and now faces a tough field including one of the continent's best middle-distance women in Russian Ekaterina Poistogova.

Poistogova turns 22 on March 1, the day the European indoor action starts in Göteborg, and this winter has been all about building on her achievement in 2012 when she finished third in the Olympics 800m final in London in a personal best of 1:57.53 as her teammate Mariya Savinova won gold in 1:56.19 ahead of South African Caster Semenya, second in 1:57.23.

The field also includes Germany's Sonja Mosler, Geena Hall, of the USA, and Kenyan Winny Chebet, running for the Commonwealth team.

But Sharp, 22, is likely to receive the biggest reception of the day. The Edinburgh-born daughter of former Scottish sprinter Cameron Sharp, she ran 2:00.52 in Helsinki to finish second as Russia's Yelena Arzhakova won in 1:58.51.

The women's 60m will be a good test at this early stage of a year for, among others, Germany's Verena Sailer, the 2010 European 100m champion and Russian Olga Belkina because the American challenge is led by Carmelita Jeter, the 100m world champion.

The fastest time in the world this year is 7.18 from American Barbara Pierre with Sailer's 7.20 the quickest by a European, but both those marks could be under threat in a field of this quality.

Russia's Tatyana Dektyareva, who was fifth in 100m hurdles at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011, might take some stopping over the 60m hurdles while the long jump will see her teammate Darya Klishina, the European indoor champion from Paris in 2011, take on Lena Mulkus, of Germany, among others.

Klishina, 22, won with 6.80m in Paris and has since taken her indoor personal best to 6.87m, and if she is going to defend her title in Göteborg, she could send out some of her early intentions with a good performance tomorrow.

 

European Athletics (EAA) – News