Farah wins 3,000m on 2013 debut

Double Olympic champion Mo Farah made a winning start to his 2013 season with victory over 3,000m indoors at the British Grand Prix in Birmingham. Farah moved to the front at the halfway point and held off the challenge of Frenchman Florian Carvalho to finish in a time of seven minutes 42 seconds. "It was brilliant," Farah told BBC Sport. "A great start to the year." There were also British wins for Holly Bleasdale in the pole vault and long jumper Shara Proctor, as well as ack victories for Michael Rimmer, Helen Clitheroe and Nigel Levine. Continue reading the main story “I'm really confident going into the Europeans that I can pick up a medal, maybe even win gold” Pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale Farah does not plan to run at next month's European Indoor Championships in Gothenberg and will instead compete in the New Orleans half-marathon in late February. The 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic gold medallist then intends to run half of the London Marathon in April, ahead of going for the full distance in 2014. "If you can get a practice it's definitely well worth it," he said. "It's not just about the race, it's about dealing with everything - waking up early in the morning, making sure you get a good breakfast, through the race, the media, everything else." Bleasdale beat Cuba's Olympic silver medallist Yarisley Silva with a first-attempt vault of 4.70m, and said she was pleased with her progress after failing to win a medal at the London Olympic Games. "I'm really happy with how today went," she said. "I usually jump on 4.45m poles but today I was feeling that good, I was like, 'I'm just going to try my 4.60s.' "I was so close to 4.78m it was painful, but I'm really confident going into the Europeans that I can pick up a medal, maybe even win gold." Rimmer's 800m victory was a controversial one, with Sudan's Abubaker Kaki, who was leading in the final metres, appearing to collide with the British runner as they jostled for the line. Kaki crossed the line on his knees to finish second, but Rimmer maintained his innocence.