Olympic medal winner Kelly Sotherton has called for home crowds to roar British athletes to success at the European Indoor Athletics Championships next month.
Commonwealth heptathlon champion Sotherton, who trains with Birchfield Harriers in Perry Barr, said a vocal backing from fans would spur on the British competitors.
"Hopefully the crowds will turn out and cheer us on," she said. "It's a home fixture, so I'm sure it will give us an advantage."
Sotherton was in Birmingham to promote the championships, which will be held from March 2-4 at the National Indoor Arena.
She was joined by championships mascot Invincibull and the official cheerleading team for the event at the Bullring yesterday. They were holding free athletics challenges for young people at the centre, including standing long jumps and sprint starts testing reaction times. They plan to hold the event at the Bullring again on Thursday, and will be offering coaching tips to budding athletes.
Sotherton said she was looking forward to the championships, and felt she had a good chance of winning the pentathlon, which she will be entering.
"Obviously I'm planning to win," she said. "I'm hoping to do very well, but it's going to be very competitive. These events are just as hard as the World Championships, so it's going to be tough."
Sotherton came in fifth in the heptathlon at the last world championships in Helsinki, and won the bronze medal at the Olympics in Athens in 2004. She will be hoping to go one better than the last European indoor Athletics tournament, where she finished runner-up in the pentathlon at Madrid.
Midlands sports fans have been snapping up tickets for the three-day event at the NIA next month. Tickets are already sold out for March 3 and 4, but some are left for Friday March 2, when Sotherton will be competing, alongside Nathan Douglas and Ashia Hansen if they are fit.
More than 600 athletes from around the continent will be competing.
