GB win mixed 4x400m relay bronze at European indoors

Great Britain won mixed 4x400m relay bronze arsenic Femke Bol anchored hosts the Netherlands to the archetypal golden of the European Athletics Indoor Championships successful Apeldoorn.

Dutch prima Bol, 25, took implicit successful 4th presumption but delivered the rubric up of Belgium successful a clip of 3 minutes 15.63 seconds to large cheers wrong the Omnisport Stadium.

The British quartet featuring Alastair Chalmers, Emily Newnham, Joshua Faulds and Lina Nielsen clocked 3:16.49 to marque the podium successful an lawsuit making its title debut.

Britons Georgia Hunter Bell, Revee Walcott-Nolan and Neil Gourley progressed to Friday night's 1500m finals connected the opening nighttime of action.

Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Hunter Bell, the beardown favourite for the rubric arsenic the fastest European this year, controlled her vigor from commencement to decorativeness and won successful 4:11.31.

"Job done present and I'm acceptable for tomorrow. I similar the heats, to get a tally retired and settee the nerves. But you request to marque definite you enactment retired of trouble," Hunter Bell told BBC Sport.

She volition beryllium joined successful the women's last by Walcott-Nolan, who placed 2nd successful her vigor successful 4:14.38.

Gourley volition person his sights acceptable connected upgrading his 2023 metallic aft helium won his vigor successful 3:40.24 to articulation satellite grounds holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen successful the final.

Olympic 5,000m champion Ingebrigtsen clocked 3:37.49 arsenic helium made a winning commencement successful his bid for a 3rd consecutive 1500m and 3,000m treble astatine the championships, an accomplishment which would spot him adjacent the men's grounds of 7 European indoor titles.

Elsewhere, Ireland's Sarah Lavin qualified for the women's 60m hurdles semi-finals connected Friday by winning her vigor successful 7.93 seconds.

Bol, the satellite 400m hurdles champion and indoor 400m satellite grounds holder, has chosen to vie successful the relay events lone and volition purpose to seizure a 2nd golden successful the women's 4x400m - the last lawsuit of the championships - connected Sunday.

But contempt taking the determination not to support her idiosyncratic 400m title, with 2 weeks until the World Indoor Championships successful Nanjing, the location favourite inactive has a important relation to play successful Apeldoorn.

Bol, who 9 years agone worked arsenic a unpaid summons scanner erstwhile Amsterdam hosted the 2016 European Championships, is 1 of athletics' biggest stars and determination was an aerial of inevitability to lucifer the excitement erstwhile she received the baton.

Having helped the big federation triumph the archetypal golden of the championships, connected Sunday the four-time Olympic medallist volition present question to bring the curtain down with different triumph successful the women's 4x400m relay.

Nielsen held disconnected Spain's Daniela Fra to get Britain's 42-strong squad disconnected to a palmy start, but was incapable to pursuit down Belgium's Helena Ponette arsenic Bol moved clear.

Following Thursday night's curtain-raiser, greeting and evening sessions volition beryllium held connected Friday, Saturday and Sunday successful Apeldoorn, with unrecorded sum of each connected BBC Two.