now to athletics, the european indoors championships are taking place in istanbul. laura muir has won gold again. the scot defended her 1500m title comfortably to make it three in a row at that distance. she also has two other golds at 3000m from previous years which makes her the most successful british athlete in the history of the championships. max verstappen s status as favourite to win a third consecutive formula 1 title was confirmed in qualifying for the first race of the season in bahrain. the dutchman beat his red bull team mate sergio perez to pole at the sakhir circuit. ferrari s charles leclerc was a quarter of a second off the pace in third. 6eorge russell was the best of the british drivers and will start from sixth. two matches in rugby union s premiership today. leicester moved back into the play off places with a 48 27 win over bottom side bath. and harlequins thrashed exeter to win the big 14 game at twickenham and move up to fifth
and the women s race was won by demi vollering of the netherlands in a photo finish against her teammate lotte kopecky. britain s pfeiffer georgi was tenth. now to athletics, the european indoors championships are taking place in istanbul. laura muir has claimed gold again. the scot defended her i,500m title comfortably to make it three in a row at that distance. she also has two other golds at 3,000m from previous years, which make her the most successful british athlete in the history of the championships. you have to be adaptable when it comes to the 1,500 metres. i was tired at the end, but it worked out in the end. i am fortunate i m in a place where i m experienced, to deal with different things. to come away with the win and i ve done that. yes, i m so happy. as you get older, you appreciate the opportunities.
hodgkinson was in a contest only against the clock. last year s world silver medallist had one eye onjolanda ceplak s long standing world record but had to settle for a new national best and world leading time of 1:57:18. dina asher smith was also in impressive form in winning the women s 60 metres. she had too much, even for a high quality field, which included team mate daryll neita and world 200m champion shericka jackson. asher smith crossed the line just two one hundreths outside of the british record she set in germany last month. laura muir comfortably won the 1,000m but failed in her attempt to break the world record held by the great maria mutola. at halfway, muir looked in a good place to challenge the record set 2a years ago today but faded towards the end. gudaf tsegay was much closer to breaking the world record in the women s 3,000m. the ethiopian missed out on the mark held by genzebe dibaba byjust one
laura muir comfortably won the 1,000m, but failed in her attempt to break the world record held by the great maria mutola. at halfway, muir looked in a good place to challenge the record set 2a years ago today, but faded towards the end. gudaf tsegay was much closer to breaking the world record in the women s 3,000m. the ethiopian missed out on the mark held by genzebe dibaba byjust one tenth of a second, as she finished 15 seconds clear of the chasing pack. charlie dobson was a surprise winner of the men s 60m in a final contested by just five athletes. three, including favourite jeremiah azui, were disqualified for false starts leaving dobson to take the win ahead of adam gemili. while the six nations continues, there is plenty of domestic rugby too in the gallagher premiership. saracens moved 12 points clear of sale at the top of the table, edging out ia man newcastle falcons 29 points to 23. northampton saints moved four points clear of rivals gloucester with a ai 3a bonus point wi
MOROCCO, January 31 - Moroccan athlete Anass Essayi won the 3,000m event at the New York Indoor Athletics Meeting held last weekend. Essayi won in 7min 41sec