19 February 2016

Mo Farah (coach: Alberto Salazar) was one of the stars at the press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix at the Emirates Arena.

The double Olympic and world champion Farah was joined by world 200m champion Dafne Schippers, world 100m bronze medallist Trayvon Bromell and European 200m champion Adam Gemili (Steve Fudge).

Farah will compete in the 3000m on Saturday, the final event of the programme in Glasgow and is looking forward to returning to the city which holds good memories for him.

He said: “Glasgow is very special for me. I remember when I first broke the British record (2009: indoor 3000m – 7.40.99) here, improving the mark set by Jon Mayock. I do have great memories of this place and the crowd get behind you and hopefully tomorrow will be the same which is exciting.

“My training has been pretty similar to this time last year and I feel as though I am in decent shape. This will be my first race and last race indoors this season and hopefully I can do well tomorrow.”

Schippers enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2015, winning the world title over 200m in the third quickest time in history. Tomorrow she will take on the 60m against a quality field including Britain’s national record holder over 100m and 200m Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie) and the new world indoor junior 60m record holder Ewa Swoboda from Poland.

The Dutch star said: “We will see – I hope that I run faster than I did, that’s always your goal. It (the 7.00) was a very good race and it’s a top field tomorrow, so that’s very nice for me.

“The 60m I normally say is not my event because it’s too short for me but this season has started very well for me. It’s important to work on my starts ahead of the World’s (Indoor Championships).”

At the age of 19 Bromell won world 100m bronze in Beijing last August and turned professional shortly afterwards, but he is not getting complacent and is targeting a solid indoor season which continues in the Scottish city.

The American, who will be making his debut appearance in the UK, commented: “I’m really looking forward to it – it’s my first time over here and I feel like it is going to be a great competition so it will be fun to perform. It is helping me for the 100m and getting a feel for the competition but it is all about having fun out there.”

The American will take on a stellar field including Britain’s Gemili who has already clocked a time of 6.59 this year and will aim to see further improvements as he takes on a line-up which includes the likes of Mike Rodgers, Richard Kilty and Kim Collins.

Gemili said: “I’ve really enjoyed running 60s this year although it’s far shorter than I’m used to. Just at the point where I stood up and I’m about to start running, it is over! However, where better to compete than here this weekend against this loaded field, I’m happy as long as I put together a good race, but there are some amazing athletes in the race.”

The Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix will be live on BBC One from 1.00-4.30pm.