Laura Muir clinches gold on first day of European Indoor Championships in Glasgow

Laura Muir is one step closer to completing her double-double dream after claiming gold in the 3,000m at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

Muir, who won the 1,500m and 3,000m in Belgrade two years ago, successfully defended the first of her titles on the opening night of action on her home track at the Emirates Arena.

To the delight of a packed crowd, the local favourite surged clear of German rival Konstanze Klosterhalfen with a lap remaining to win with a championship record time of eight minutes 30.61 seconds - five seconds quicker than when she triumphed in 2017.

With Wales' Melissa Courtney claiming bronze, it sparked further cheers just minutes after Katarina Johnson-Thompson had raised the roof by storming to victory in the women's pentathlon, with team-mate Niamh Emerson picking up the silver.

Muir's victory came just two hours after she was made to work to claim a place in Sunday's 1,500m final but the 25-year-old still had enough left in the tank for glory.

"I was a bit worried going into that, because the 1,500 heats were a bit faster than I'd have liked,'' Muir said.

"I was going at a good pace, then Klosterhalfen really ramped it up and I thought 'Oh Jeez'. I just had to hang on, and then in that last 200 I just put the welly down.

"To break the championship record is great. That last lap was crazy - the crowd went mental.

"My gran was here, too, and she always misses the races I win medals in. She is always there when it doesn't go quite so well, so I'm so glad I could deliver today - it is the first time she has seen me win a championship medal.

"Having done two races in a couple of hours I have 48 hours now until Sunday's race. I don't know what I am going to do with myself.

"I still feel pretty fresh considering what I have done.''

Johnson-Thompson added a second European gold to her World Indoor Championships title.

The hot favourite in the absence of Belgian Olympic champion Nafi Thiam, the Liverpool athlete finished the morning session with a lead of 118 points, helped by a personal best of 13.15m in the shot put, her weakest event.

A slip on her final long-jump - the fourth event - cost Johnson-Thompson the chance of making a bid for Nataliya Dobrynska's world record of 5013 points.

The Liverpool athlete then romped to victory in the 800m to seal victory with 4983 points - the fourth highest total in pentathlon history - and 252 clear of Emerson.

Despite missing out on the world record she said: "I'm very proud of my score because 4983 is a huge performance.

"It's not the world record but the world record is that for a reason. You can't afford any mistakes. I wasn't there today but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the moment.''

Team GB captain Guy Learmonth claimed his place in the men's 800m semi-final on Saturday night as he finished second in his heat, while Liverpool's Jamie Webb triumphed in his race to also qualify.

There was disappointment for Perth's Eilidh Doyle in the semi-finals of the women's 400m as she could only trudge home in fourth.

But Morgan Lake of Milton Keynes is through to the women's high jump final after successfully negotiating a 1.93m barrier, while Oxford's Nathan Douglas sneaked into the men's triple jump final with a leap of 16.18m.

Earlier on Friday, Scottish duo Andrew Butchart and Chris O'Hare delighted their home crowd to comfortably qualify for the 3,000m final on Saturday, while Robbie Fitzgibbon and Neil Gourley qualified for the 1,500m final.