An incredible opening day set the tone for Glasgow 2019 and Saturday’s schedule suggests we’re set for more scintillating action in the European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Laura Muir had the Emirates on their feet on the way to 3000m gold, while Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Niamh Emerson led a pentathlon one-two.
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With no fewer than seven finals on the slate, including four successive track tussles in the closing stages of the evening, a whole host of stars are waiting to be born.
Keep an eye on these five.
- DAY ONE: Muir 3000m gold reaction – “This tops the lot.”
- DAY ONE: Morning briefing – Butchart qualifies and Lewandowski lays down gauntlet
- LIVE RESULTS: Follow the timings as they come in
Malaika Mihambo – Long jump
There’ll be plenty going on in the field on Saturday morning but it might be hard to take your eyes off the women’s long jump.
It’s where Germany’s Mihambo and reigning champion Ivana Spanovic, darling of the 2017 Championships on home soil in Belgrade, will match each other leap for leap.
Mihambo topped the European lists and held the world lead after jumping 6.99m at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin at the start of February, a commanding marker for Glasgow.
The current European outdoor champion won’t lack for confidence but will be met by an unrelenting force in Spanovic, whose 6.92m sees her second on the European list.
With Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers also impressing of late, get set for a stormer from 10:00 this morning.
Eva Swoboda – 60 metres
When the sprinters enter the centre of the Emirates Arena, sparks are certain to fly and Saturday sees the 60m speedster and hurdles enter the fray.
Swoboda, a once-in-a-generation Polish star, is nicely poised to end her country’s sprint medal drought at the European Indoor Championships that stretches right back to 1969.
The 21-year-old’s penchant for superb starts serves her handsomely over 60m and she sits joint top of the European list with 7.08s heading into the meet.
She ran that time in Karlsruhe only to be matched by Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji and the pair are likely tobe neck and neck in Scotland’s biggest city too.
Swoboda’s heat is at 11:21, with Britain’s Asha Philip beginning the defence of her title at 11:13 and Kambundji following at 11:45.
Orlando Ortega – 60 metre hurdles
Don’t be surprised silky Spaniard Ortega’s long wait for a senior gold medal comes to a juddering halt over the hurdles in Glasgow.
Olympic silver medallist in Rio, the 27-year-old bagged outdoor bronze in Berlin last summer and appears to be working his way up to a medal challenge at the European indoors.
He laid down 7.61s in January over in Nantes before going even better at the Orlen Cup, clocking 7.59s to claim a signal victory.
Among his chief challengers will be Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, determined to wrest back the title he won in Prague back in 2015 after settling for silver in 2017.
Ortega runs in the first head at 12:02 with Martinot-Lagarde getting his campaign underway at 12:26.
Gianmarco Tamberi – High jump
Forget KJT and Laura Muir – for many, Tamberi was the star of Day One at Glasgow 2019.
The Italian crowd-pleaser hasn’t reached the major-event rostrum in nearly three years, fuelling determination that saw him qualify for the final with a leap of 2.25m.
We’re loath to forget that he’s a former World indoor champion and was well-poised to make a mark at the 2016 Olympic before injury intervened.
Sylwester Bednarek also cleared 2.25m in qualifying and looks in the mood to spoil the party, but Tamberi is sureto be entertaining to watch right until the end.
The high jump final, one of seven on Saturday night, begins at 18:00.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen – 3000m
It’s becoming hard to go through anything without mentioning this quite exceptional young man who looks certainto emerge from Glasgow as one of its favourite sons.
The 18-year-old showed his nous to manage both 1500m and 3000m heats in the space of an hour, winning both and proving his mettle in the process.
The Norwegian should be fuelled by confusion and anger at his brother Filip’s disqualification, while Henrik sealed safe passage to start the final alongside his youngest sibling.
Andy Butchart claimed a native Scottish record from the same 3000m heat that Jakob won, so the 19:47 final looks a must-not-miss.