Mo Farah underlined his status as favourite for the 3,000 metres title at the European Indoor Championships on Friday with an assured performance in Turin.
Farah, who has twice broken the British record this season, eased down to finish third in his heat at the Oval Lingotto to qualify comfortably for tomorrow's final.
The 25-year-old ran the opening laps at the back of the field before surging to the front with seven laps remaining, eventually strolling across the line in eight minutes 03.26 seconds, almost half a minute outside the national record he set in Birmingham a fortnight ago.
"It was good to get a run out, I quite enjoyed it," Farah said. "Expectations are definitely high but I just have to go out and see what happens and hopefully put in a good performance."
Farah finished fifth two years ago in Birmingham, reaching the final despite being tripped in his heat and briefly running the wrong way down the back straight when he got to his feet.
"That was completely out of my mind," the Somalia-born athlete added. "I just wanted to come out and finish the heats off and get ready for tomorrow."
Team-mates Nick McCormick and Mark Draper also qualified for the final after finishing fourth and fifth respectively in the first heat, Draper taking more than two seconds off his personal best in the process.
Elsewhere, veteran Donna Fraser continued to turn back the clock in her 14th major championship, the 36-year-old easily advancing to the semi-finals of the 400m.
Fraser, who planned to retire after last year's Olympics but was not selected for the relay in Beijing and refused to bow out on such a low note, was second in her heat in 53.06 seconds.
In the men's 400m Nick Leavey and Richard Buck also progressed to the semi-finals, both finishing second in their heats in 47.19s and 47.04 respectively.
Buck was well in control of his race and could afford to ease down with 80m to go, while Leavey had to work slightly harder in a more competitive heat won by Italy's Matteo Galvan.
Olympic finalist Sarah Claxton advanced to the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles but team-mate Gemma Bennett crashed out after a disappointing run which saw her hit almost every hurdle.
In the men's event Allan Scott and Andy Turner were second and third in their respective heats to move into the semi-finals.
Ireland's David Gillick, seeking a hat-trick of 400m titles, also cruised into this afternoon's semi-finals, while team-mate Kelly Proper set a new national record in the long jump.
Proper jumped 6.59m in the second round of qualifying to advance to tomorrow's final.
Source: EuroSports
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