Athletics: Farah trousers a record

Having decided to move his training base, and his family, to Oregon where his new coach Alberto Salazar holds court, Mo Farah will quickly become well acquainted with his new American training partner Galen Rupp.

• Cheque mate: Mo Farah shows off his British record-breaking time, and winner's pot, at the Aviva Grand Prix. Photograph:Getty

The bonding process has already begun, the duo buddying up for the better part of 5,000 metres at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham yesterday, each helping the other, stride for stride.

With 250 metres to go, Rupp burst ahead. Farah, on home soil, showed the onlooking Salazar that he requires only fine-tuning rather than an overhaul to aid his quest for Olympic achievement. The Londoner accelerated, hit the front, and helped himself to a new European indoor record of 13 minutes and 10.6 seconds, obliterating Nick Rose's 29-year-old UK mark in the process.

"We had a plan going into the race," said Farah. "We wanted to start off steady and work our way through - that was the aim. We're training together and we know what we're capable of."

In such form, Farah is optimistic that he can retain his title at next month's European Indoor Championships. However, with UK Athletics selectors meeting tomorrow to choose their squad, they must confront rather more problematic dilemmas.

Mark Lewis-Francis failed to earn automatic 60-metres qualification when he came third in last weekend's trials and the local favourite has been forced to abandon his case for a discretionary invite after he sustained a groin injury in the heats. Yet as American Mike Rodgers was bolting clear in the final, Harry Aikines Aryeetey - with his ticket for Paris already assured - was suffering a suspected hamstring tear behind him, casting doubt on his availability.

Phillips Idowu has already opted out of the cross-Channel adventure. The world champion produced an impressive leap of 17.57m to defeat Christian Olsson in the triple jump. "It was my best indoor season opener," he said. "It was a world class performance." His intentions for Korea this summer are clear.

Helen Clitheroe could not repeat her recent triumphs in Glasgow and Sheffield, finishing fourth in the 3000 metres that was won comfortably by Ethiopia's Sentayehu Ejigu. However, the 37-year-old's new lease of life shows no sign of abating as she moved into third place in the UK's all-time list behind Jo Pavey and Liz McColgan.

"It's exactly what I wanted out of today," she said. "The last two races have given me a lot of confidence." Laura Whittle, the sole Scot in the Grand Prix field, consoled herself with a personal best of 9.06.85 after finishing ninth.

In a bizarre spectacle, 2004 Olympic champion Felix Sanchez won the rarely-held 400m hurdles with an assist from the equipment itself. With athletes allowed to break from their lanes for the second lap, a chaotic but thrilling finish saw the 33-year-old collide with the last hurdle, placed just five metres from the end. However the momentum catapulted him across the line to pip Reuben McCoy by two-hundredths of a second with Richard Yates setting a new British record in third.

"There is just about enough space and without having hurdles on the bend it works," said Sanchez. "I just had to get over the line however I could."

Elsewhere, world 800m bronze medallist Jenny Meadows warmed up for the Europeans with a sub-two minute run, and Nigel Levine won the 400m in a new personal best of 46.17 seconds which moved the 21-year-old Englishman to the head of the European rankings. European and Commonwealth champion Andy Turner, who is skipping Paris, could not match the pace of the USA's Aries Merritt in the sprint hurdles, ending up third.

n Great Britain international Derek Hawkins won his first Scottish senior cross-country title yesterday in Falkirk's Callendar Park, ending up over 30 seconds in front of Chris MacKay with defending champion Ali Hay in third. Double Commonwealth Games finalist Freya Murray retained her crown, coasting a minute clear of fellow GB athlete Elspeth Curran.