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Laura Muir named in GB and Ireland squad after record-breaking performance

Laura Muir celebrates her win in the Mile at the Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday
Image: Laura Muir celebrates her win in the Mile at the Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday

Laura Muir will seek a second double gold-medal haul at the European Indoor Championships next month.

Muir was named on Sunday as part of a 48-strong Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad for the championships.

The 25-year-old won the 1500m and 3,000m titles in Belgrade in 2017 and will defend them from March 1-3 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

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

Laura Muir ran the third fastest indoor mile of all time on Saturday
Image: Laura Muir ran the third fastest indoor mile of all time on Saturday

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

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

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

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

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

Andrew Pozzi
Image: Andrew Pozzi will be in action in Glasgow if he proves his fitness

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

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

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

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