Not since Belgium’s Kim Gevaert retained her title in Birmingham in 2007 has a woman won back-to-back European indoor 60m crowns but Great Britain’s Asha Philip is looking in good shape to follow her lead at the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Philip, 28, soared to the top of the world lists in Dortmund on Sunday (27) when she triumphed at the PSD Bank Indoor Meeting in 7.12 from Norway’s Ezinne Okparaebo in 7.30.
It was another statement of intent from the champion from Belgrade, who took the title two years ago in a national record of 7.06 to go alongside her vast collection of major medals in the 4x100m relay.
Philip, who is ever reliable on the first leg of the British sprint relay team, has all the right attributes for the 60m and she could become one of the stars of the European Indoor Championships which begin in Glasgow on 1 March.
Reigning European indoor 60m champion Asha Philip stormed to a world-leading mark of 7.12 in Dortmund this evening. pic.twitter.com/LwF9vBgpXs
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) January 27, 2019
It was an eye-catching meeting for fast times with Germany’s Pamela Dutkiewicz showing her credentials by just missing the world lead of 7.90 in the 60m hurdles, winning in 7.91 in her first race of the season.
And in celebrating victory, she beat Belarusian Elvira Herman, the European outdoor champion, who was second in 8.00 with Belgium’s Eline Berings third in 8.10.
There was also a convincing home victory in the 1500m for world finalist Hanna Klein who clocked 4:11.73 to defeat Alina Reh by nearly two seconds in 4:13.71. European 3000m steeplechase champion Gesa Felicitas Krause was fourth in 4:14.60.
Switzerland’s Angelica Moser also cleared an indoor lifetime best of 4.55m to win the pole vault.
Johnson-Thompson impresses in Miramas; world leading marks for Emerson and Urena
There will be some noise in Glasgow if Katarina Johnson-Thompson regains the European pentathlon title on the opening day, an event she won in a British record with 5000 points in Prague in 2015.
Johnson-Thompson had a good weekend in France, where she is based, by clearing 1.93m in the high jump in Miramas on Saturday before running a season’s best of 8.40 in the 60m hurdles the following day.
But it is one of her teammates who is top of the world lists after world U20 heptathlon champion Niamh Emerson won the Combined Events International in Cardiff with a score of 4544 from Czech Republic’s Eliska Klucinova with 4255 and Adriana Sulek from Poland with 4244.
Spain’s Jorge Urena also set a world-leading mark of 6124 points to win the heptathlon in Cardiff. Urena won silver in Belgrade two years ago behind Kevin Mayer and could be a beneficiary with the Frenchman choosing not to defend his title in Glasgow in March.
Not far behind on the lists is German Andreas Bechmann, 19, who won his national indoor title in Halle on Sunday with a score of 6017.