Switch of distance pays off for O’hare as he wins British Indoor title in Birmingham

Chris O’hare has withstood some financial pain for performance gain but the rewards in Birmingham yesterday carried real value.

The double European medallist has switched upwards to 3,000 metres this spring, a deviation taking him away from the lucrative US mile circuit with this summer in mind. Yet when he secured the British indoor title with a performance of control and confidence, it appeared that he had covered this ground many times before.

The 28-year-old insists he has unfinished business at 1,500m. “I needed to do some strength work,” he said. “And with the world championships being so late in the year, I didn’t want to be focusing on 1,500m from start to finish.”

With this past weekend doubling as the trials for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, O’hare could yet obtain a maiden international title in an unexpected fashion.

“I feel really good,” he said. “But the 3,000m has been a tough race and a new event for me. My recent run in Boston was my first 3,000m in six or seven years and it’s good to take it out as I did and get the win.”

Charlie Grice snatched second by overtaking Andy Butchart at the last but all three will likely be included in the British team.

“Everyone knows that’s not Butchy’s best and in another three weeks, he will be better than that,” O’hare forecast.

Six Scots are already guaranteed selection with Laura Muir victorious in the 3,000m and then revealing she will defend her European titles at that distance and at the 1,500 on her home turf. She will be joined in the latter by her training partner Jemma Reekie who employed the kind of relentless acceleration which has become Muir’s hallmark to impressively claim the British title.

“I didn’t know I could do that,” the 20-year-old said. “But then I did it and thought ‘that was something new’.

“I had a plan going back a few weeks and it all came together.”

Neil Gourley will line up in the 1,500 metres at the Europeans, cementing his place by running an indoor personal best of 3:44.76 to win the men’s 1,500m.

Aberdonian athlete Zoey Clark claimed the 400m crown, with Eilidh Doyle only managing a fourth-place finish, while Guy Learmonth took second place in the 800m after original victor Jamie Webb’s appeal against his disqualification was rejected.