Glasgow, UK - There were wins for Sweden’s trio of stars and a case of the pupil beating the master, plus a clutch of world leading marks at the Norwich Union Indoor International in Glasgow on Saturday (27).

The first indoor meeting of the season is often an opportunity for athletes to blow off a bit of winter rust before they sharpen up for the year’s big championships. Not so Susanna Kallur.

Two wins in 40 minutes for Kallur

Sweden’s super hurdler started 2007 where she left off in 2006 – with a bang. The European champion blitzed the field in the 60m Hurdles in Glasgow’s cramped and noisy Kelvin Hall to record the fastest time in the world this year, 7.90, beating the previous best by more than a tenth of a second.

Not content with that, Kallur returned to the track little more 40 minutes later to win the 60m flat too, clocking a personal best of 7.25. Not bad for an athlete who’s been suffering from injury.

“It’s a great time for the start of the season, it feels very good indeed,” said the ever-smiling Swede afterwards. “I know I am strong but I have had a hip injury which has prevented me working on the hurdles.”

You wouldn’t have guessed. Although she didn’t get the best of starts here, Kallur’s pick-up was perfect and she quickly opened up a gap on her rivals. At the line she was almost two metres ahead of her nearest challenger, USA’s Lolo Jones.

“It wasn’t a perfect race,” she said. “Some of the hurdling was a bit uneven, but it’s a great opening time for me.”

There was a good opening time for Kelly Sotherton too. Britain’s Olympic Heptathlon bronze medallist finished fourth in 8.21, a personal best, despite a poor start. Jones took second in 8.06.

Kallur was equally impressive in the 60m flat where she surprised a few specialist sprinters, beating Britain’s Jeanette Kwakye by four one-hundredths.

“I feel very strong,” she said at the end of a hard day’s work. “It shows that I have worked hard on the flat. I am pleased to be in this shape this early in the year.”

Pickering improves to 6.55, upsets Gardener

Craig Pickering is another athlete in good early season shape. The 20-year-old British sprinter trains with Jason Gardener, 11 years older and with many a senior championship behind him.

But Pickering showed his mentor that his name is not at the top of the world 60m lists for nothing. Running here as a guest, Pickering dominated the race from the start to clock 6.55 and shaving another hundredth from the time he set in London last Saturday for his fourth personal best in four races this winter.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Pickering, the 2005 European Junior 100m champion. “I’ve been working so hard in training and it seems to be all coming off now.

“But I wasn’t expecting that. Usually against the big boys I struggle with nerves. I was worried I would be like that today, but as soon as I heard the noise I felt amazing.”

For Gardener, who was a huge 0.15s slower, it was his first defeat on this track this century, and ended a five-year winning streak that goes back to 2002. But the former World indoor champion, who is aiming to win his fourth European indoor title later this winter, had nothing but praise for his protégé.

“I got beaten by my training partner, what can I say? He’s running very well and I am pleased for him.

“He’s had a few more races than me, so he’s a bit further down the line. I look forward to getting a few more under my belt. I am a wee bit rusty.

“It’s a shame to lose my winning streak here, but that’s the nature of competition. All good things come to an end.”

There were good wins for two of Kallur’s most illustrious teammates, Christian Olsson and Kajsa Bergqvist, although this year it was Olsson who was breaking stadium records.

Looking a little unfamiliar, with close cropped hair instead of his customary blond mop, the World indoor record breaker struggled to find his rhythm on the Triple Jump runway but nevertheless eclipsed Jonathan Edwards’ six-year-old record by one centimetre.

Olsson, Bergqvist content with 07 debuts

Olsson’s third round leap of 17.20m was enough to beat Britain’s Commonwealth champion Phillips Idowu by 17cm, and the Swede also reached 17.19m in the sixth. “I didn’t jump as well as I would have liked,” said Olsson. “I couldn’t get my rhythm right on this surface. But things are going well and I am in good shape.”

Bergqvist who won the High Jump easily at 1.95m but was disappointed that she couldn’t go any higher. Twelve months ago Bergqvist opened her indoor season by pushing the Kelvin Hall record up to 2.01m, and followed that a week later with the World record.

“I felt pretty good today, I just wish I could have jumped 1.98m or higher,” she said. “Unlike last year, I had really good training in the autumn so I have no complaints. I was good in the run up but didn’t feel strong in take off.

“I just hope I can get into the two metre zone quite soon.”

Comfortable start for Lagat as well

Elsewhere there was some impressive middle distance running, especially from Bernard Lagat. The American completely controlled the men’s 1500m from the front and ran away from the field to win in 3:45.55 looking like he had a lot in reserve.

Britain’s Commonwealth medallist Lisa Dobriskey adopted similar tactics in the women’s race, winning easily in 4:17.01, while Marilyn Okoro and Jenny Meadows proved that British women’s middle distance running is in good hands as they battled out the 800m.

Okoro, representing the Commonwealth select team, won in 2:01.68 – the best in the world so far – with Meadows second in 2:01.87. It was the first time either had dipped under 2:02, the qualifying time for the European indoor championships.

There was another indoor world leading performance in the men’s Pole Vault, won with 5.75m by Australia’s Paul Burgess (again representing the Commonwealth), while USA’s Toby Stevenson finished a poor third with 5.45, managing only one clearance.

Britain’s European bronze medallist Andy Turner won a ragged men’s hurdles in 7.69. It may not have been a super time, but Turner was happy to beat USA’s Robert Hughes, among last year’s standout hurdlers. “The time was not particularly good but I ran a good race,” he said. “It was a bit of a grudge match with that American guy because he beat me last year a few times.”

Turner’s grudging win may actually have made a difference to the match result. Unusually, it was extremely close, with only six points separating all five teams before the final event, the men’s 400m.

Britain’s Daniel Caines held on to second behind Germany’s Bastian Swillims and, with USA’s Mitch Potter finishing fourth, it all ended in a three-way draw – USA, Great Britain and Germany all amassing 50 points, ahead of Sweden and the Commonwealth Select side.