Gourley executes race plan to seal 1500m final place

Neil Gourley says his multi-sport European Championship 1500m heat crystallised his race plan for the final after keeping his hopes of a medal alive in Munich. The Glasgow star, 27, safely navigated his way through to Thursday night's showdown by finishing fourth out of 14 runners on Monday evening. Ad Gourley clocked a rock-solid time of 3:38.07 in the city's iconic 1972 Olympic Stadium but found himself consistently impeded and struggling for fluency as Michał Rozmys stormed to victory.

AthleticsBrier misses out on European semi-final by hundredth of a second5 MINUTES AGO Italian and Spanish stars Pietro Arese and Mario Garcia finished second and third and Gourley, a former European Under-23 bronze medallist, admits he learnt some crucial lessons against the trio ahead of Thursday's climax under the lights. He said: «I felt a little sluggish out there tonight. »It was verging on those moments not to panic – I was giving myself a lot to do.

«I knew some gaps would open up but you don't want to leave yourself that far back. »I had a lot to do – every single move I made I felt like somebody blocked it. «I’d been there before so I just had to stay patient.

I knew that I had wheels to burn in the last 200m. »In the final I'm going to have to run it differently because I’m not going to do that again. «A bit of a fight is a fair way to describe it.

It wasn’t how I drew it up, I made some mistakes in there without a doubt, but I knew if I was patient, some room would open up for me to close. »It just about did and I took advantage of a slim gap. «I made enough mistakes that I put myself in a position where I had no choice but to come from behind and chance the gaps when they arrived.