GB athletes under instruction to show no mercy in Oregon

Great Britain's athletes are under instruction to show no mercy to the opposition when they take to the track at the World Indoor Championships in Portland on Friday.

A new-look 23-strong squad will compete at the Oregon Convention Center in the last global event before the Rio Olympics in August.

The British team are shorn of a host of star names, with the likes of Mo Farah, who will compete at the World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff the following weekend, Jessica Ennis-Hill, who has an Achilles problem, and Greg Rutherford, a late withdrawal due to injury and illness, all absent.

But medal hopes remain, even if replicating the six the squad won at the last World Indoors in Sopot two years ago looks a tall order.

British Athletics performance director Neil Black said: "We're in good shape and people are raring to go.

"Come the competition it's like these guys almost turn into animals. That's what we expect. We're here to kill and none of them will think differently."

Shara Proctor, the World Championship silver medallist outdoors in the long jump, James Dasaolu in the 60 metres and Tiffany Porter in the 60m hurdles will all have their sights set on podium places on Friday.

No Russian athletes are competing in Portland, the first global championships since athletics' world governing body the IAAF banned the country following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation.

The WADA report also said corruption was "embedded" at the IAAF under Lamine Diack, the disgraced predecessor of current president Lord Coe, who admitted his sport faced a long road to regain the trust of an understandably sceptical public.

He said: "We're not going to return to trust overnight, it's not a straightforward equation. You don't stick 10 dollars in a slot machine and suddenly trust emerges in the tray. This will take a long time."

In the arena, Renaud Lavillenie needed just two jumps to claim pole vault gold on the opening night of the Championships on Thursday.

The Frenchman, the world record holder, cleared 5.75 metres and then 5.90m to beat American Sam Kendricks into silver, with Piotr Lisek of Poland taking bronze.

Lavillenie went on to clear a championship record of 6.02m, but a world record attempt at 6.17m was a step too far.

American Olympic champion Jenn Suhr took four jumps to win the women's competition, soaring over 4.90m, also a championship record.