George Mills wins 3,000m silver at European Indoor Championships
The 25-year-old Briton, who is the son of former England footballer Danny Mills, finished runner-up to Jakob Ingebritsen.
George Mills won a second consecutive European silver medal at the Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
The 25-year-old, who is the son of former England footballer Danny Mills, again had to settle for second behind Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 3,000 metres.
It was a repeat of last summer’s outdoor championships in Rome, where Mills lost out to Ingebrigtsen in the 5,000m.
Having stretched out the field, Mills hung on when he was overtaken by his rival, and, although the distance grew over the final lap, the British athlete comfortably crossed the line in second.
“When Jakob came round, I knew that would come at some point,” said Mills on BBC Sport.
“Four hundred (metres) out, I thought it was a bit early to try to defend. I thought, ‘OK, I’ll sit on and see if I can attack on the home straight’. Unfortunately he pulled away but I think I saw on the clock it was only a one-second gap and I think it was 1.2 in Rome so I’m getting closer.”
On his silver medal, he added: “Anything less now would have been really disappointing. I guess I did the minimum of what I could but I’m obviously happy to come away with a silver, but I need to work more for summer.”
Mills was joined trackside by his father Danny, who said of watching from the sidelines: “It’s horrible, it really is. I’ve said so many times it’s like watching a penalty shootout time and time again.
“The hour or so beforehand is absolutely terrible, I’ve got sore hands again from banging the boards. It’s tough, but he gave it absolutely everything.
“A lot of respect to Jakob, he’s got to be one of the best of all time. George is building all the time, getting more confident, and I’m sure sooner rather than later he’ll have his time.”
There were also silver medals for Melissa Courtney-Bryant in the women’s 3,000m and the women’s 4x400m relay team.
Courtney-Bryant went into the final as favourite for gold and led going into the home straight but she was unable to hold off Ireland’s Sarah Healy.
“I have to be happy, it’s an upgrade from my two bronze medals but still searching for that gold so I will be back to try to get that gold again,” said 31-year-old Courtney-Bryant. “I’m a little bit gutted, especially to lose it on the line.”
Dutch star Femke Bol concluded the championships by anchoring the home team to gold in the 4x400m relay, with Amber Anning crossing in second for Britain.
After her disappointment in being disqualified in the individual event, Anning made no mistake to build on a strong performance from Lina Nielsen, Hannah Kelly and Emily Newnham, with the quartet setting a new national record of three minutes, 24.89 seconds.
“I did my best,” said Anning. “It’s tough, we knew what we were up against, but great effort, a national record, I think we couldn’t have closed it off in a better way.”
Elsewhere, there were fourth-placed finishes for Jade O’Dowda in the women’s pentathlon, Scott Lincoln in the men’s shot put and the men’s 4x400m relay team.
