World Indoor Athletics Championships: Josh Kerr and Molly Caudery win gold, Femke Bol sets world record

Britain earned two gold medals on the second day of the World Indoor Athletics Championships.

Josh Kerr was cheered on by the home crowd at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena as he won the men’s 3000 metres in 7:42.98, claiming Britain’s first medal of the competition.

The 26-year-old hit the front with 400m remaining, powering into an unassailable lead.

Yared Nuguse of the United States was second in 7:43.59, while Ethiopian Selemon Barega placed third in 7:43.64.

The victory gave Kerr his second world title after he won the outdoor 1500m last year.

“I think I’ve burned more energy celebrating than I did in the race,” Kerr told the BBC. “These competitions are so important. I feel like I’ve let the UK audience down a little bit for how I’ve performed over the last five years in front of them.

“I actually came in here without a solid plan for the first time. I didn’t want to act emotionally out there. I really wanted to send it with 400m to go.”

Britain had a second gold medal just minutes later after Molly Caudery triumphed in the women’s pole vault.

The 23-year-old Caudery cleared 4.80m to take the world title, while New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney was given silver after two failed attempts at 4.90m.

Reigning Olympic champion Katie Moon could only clear 4.75m, receiving the bronze medal.

Both Kerr and Caudery have now consolidated their status as serious medal contenders for Britain heading into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

There was a world record set in the women’s 400m, with the Netherlands’ Femke Bol winning in 49.17.

The 24-year-old, who is also an outdoor 400m hurdles world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, sliced 0.07 seconds off her own indoor 400m world record.

British team captain Laviai Nielsen narrowly missed out on podium, finishing behind Bol, her Dutch team-mate Lieke Klaver and the US’s Alexis Holmes to place fourth.

“It’s a dream come true,” Bol told World Athletics. “We’ve trained so hard together to make this a Dutch one-two.”

In the men’s 400m, Belgium’s Alexander Doom stunned Norway’s Karsten Warholm at the line to triumph in 45.25.

Warholm, the Olympic and world 400m hurdle champion, had to make do with the silver medal in 45.34, while Jamaica’s Rusheen McDonald ran a personal best of 45.65 to take bronze.

There was also disappointment for Britain’s Laura Muir, who finished fifth in the women’s 3000m.