Chris O'Hare has given his backing to Glasgow's bid to bring the 2019 European Indoor Championships to the city with UK Athletics officials increasingly confident they will be able to put together a winning bid ahead of next year's vote, writes Mark Woods.
With formal expressions of interest due by July, European Athletics have confirmed the initial list of rivals now includes the national federations of Belarus, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Portugal and Poland.
However UKA sources claim at least three of those are likely to be phantom bidders, designed to strengthen individual reputations ahead of elections to the European board which will be held in Slovenia next month.
And with representatives from Glasgow and Event Scotland departing last weekend's championships in Prague with positive vibes over their chances to bringing the showpiece to the Emirates Arena, O'Hare has urged them to push their case to replicate the feelgood factor that home athletes felt at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
"Any competition in Scotland is great to have," said the 1500 metres bronze medallist. "It's proven that Glasgow 2014 was a big goal for a lot of Scots and now you see we had six of us make it to Prague.
"The benefits and success carry on. In 2019 you'll have a new generation coming through and it they are all trying to get to that, it can only push them to bigger and better things."
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