Bol crushes world record, Kerr thrills home crowd at world indoors

GLASGOW :Dutch runner Femke Bol rewrote her own world record in the indoor 400 metres on Saturday, while Britain's Josh Kerr steamrolled to victory in the men's 3,000 to the delight of the home crowd at the world indoor athletics championships.

The 24-year-old 400 hurdles specialist made it look effortless, leading from the gun to clock 49.17 seconds and beat the previous mark of 49.24 she set two weeks ago at the Dutch national championships.

"It was such a strong race, I knew I had to go out fast. My coach said to me 'You can run faster', but to be honest I just wanted to win," said Bol, gold medallist in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay at the outdoor world championships last year in Budapest.

"This is great because I've not done hurdles for four weeks and it gives me confidence. (But) I am missing the hurdles," she added. "It is just great to race and this competition and the atmosphere has been amazing."

Alexander Doom of Belgium overtook Norway's Karsten Warholm, a triple world champion in the 400 hurdles, over the final few metres to win the men's 400 in 45.25. Warholm crossed in 45.34 for silver.

Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia ran 6.98 - quickest in the world this season - to win the women's 60, edging Ewa Swoboda of Poland by two-hundreds of a second.

The 26-year-old Kerr, who raced in rose-coloured glasses, clocked 7:42.98 seconds, surging past Ethiopia's Selemon Barega with 100 metres to go in another world-beating achievement amid a remarkable few months.

American Yared Nuguse took silver in 7:43.59 while Barega faded to third.

BURNED MORE ENERGY

Kerr, who won the world outdoor 1,500 title in Budapest last year and three weeks ago broke Mo Farah's indoor two miles world record in New York, high-fived fans sitting