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Miguel Perera vows to give his all in European hurdle semi-finals

Perera, 25, scrambled into the 110m hurdles semi-finals on Tuesday after a third-place finish in his 110m hurdles heat.

By Will Jennings in Munich

Miguel Perera insists he will empty the tank for a shot at a memorable multi-sport European Championship final in Munich.

The Loughborough-based star scrambled into the semi-finals on Tuesday after a third-place finish in his 110m hurdles heat.

Perera, 25, clocked a time of 13.72s to finish behind home favourite Gregor Traber and Italian ace Hassane Fofana after a frantic finish in Germany.

The East Midlands star battled through by just 0.06s ahead of unfortunate Finn Elmo Lakka, who finished sixth with a time of 13.78s behind Hungarian Valdó Szucs and Norwegian star Vladimir Vukicevic.

Perera said: “I had no idea where I was on the line, I just had to dip.

“I knew I got in front of the guy next to me but that was it.

“It was all very packed, but there is not much separating us all.

“I definitely wanted to reach the semi, and now it’s just about fighting and see what I can do.

“I hope I can run a personal best in the semis and then at least I’ve left it all out there.

“It was a lot better than I thought it might be going in.

“I’ve worked hard all season to run clean, staying tall and I’m glad I was able to do that here today.

“It’s good to be in the fight, for sure.”

Perera was one of two British stars to progress to Wednesday’s semi-finals as teammate David King similarly advanced. They will be joined by Andrew Pozzi in the next round after the Commonwealth bronze medallist received a bye.

King, 28, finished a more comfortable second in the heat prior to Perera’s as a time of 13.63s kept his hopes alive.

Swiss star Finley Gaio won the race to lay down the gauntlet as the competition hots up.

King finished well within the qualifying window but knows he will have to up his game if he is to seal a final showdown under the Olympic Stadium lights later this week.

He said: “It was very comfortable.

“My legs tightened after the gun and it felt laboured but once I got over one, I got into my running and it was smooth, it was good.

“I’d love to make the final. It will take a run better than that one but I know I’ve got that in my legs.”

The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website