By Phil Harlow

(all times GMT)

1855: The answer to 'can anyone beat Carolina Kluft?' is...... no. Kluft retains her European Indoor title with a points total of 4944 in Birmingham.

Sotherton takes silver - 17 points behind the Swede but with a new UK record of 4927 points - and Britain's first medal of the championships.

There are more medals for the Dutch camp as Karin Ruckstuhl picks up bronze. British number two Jessica Ennis, who had led the competition after two events, finishes down in sixth with a personal best of 4716.

"Kelly pushed me very, very hard and I just enjoyed it," Kluft says afterwards. Sotherton says: "I wanted to be the first person to beat her but it was a fantastic competition."

"Huge cheers for Sotherton from the Birmingham crowd as she came battling down the home straight - and then an eerie near-silence as the times were announced.

"Kluft was supposed to be out of form and beatable coming into these championships - but, as always, she somehow managed to find something extra just when she needed it most."
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce at the National Indoor Arena

"We've had our disappontments with Andy Turner and Karen Harewood but on the whole it's been a pretty good day."
BBC pundit Steve Cram, rounds off the day one's action from Birmingham.

1850: Sotherton wins the 800m in two minutes 12.54 seconds - but is it enough?

1847: All set for the last event in the pentathlon - the 800m. Can Kelly Sotherton edge out Carolina Kluft and end the Swede's five-year unbeaten run? Sotherton predictably goes to the front - but is tracked by Kluft.

1834: Hmmm a very tight men's 60m hurdles final, who's won that then?

Well it is a Dutch one-two with Gregory Sedoc sneaking gold in a personal best time of 7.63 from compatriot Marcel van der Westen.

The bronze goes to Spain's Jackson Quinonez, which means one of Britain's best medal hopes - Andy Turner - finished outside the medals.

In fact he finishes fourth in 7.67 and says afterwards: "I messed up royally and I'm an idiot. I'm devastated and wasted an opportunity." The second Briton, Allan Scott, finishes sixth.

"It was just one of those days for Andy where things didn't click."
BBC pundit and former world 110m hurdle record holder, Colin Jackson

1831: "Kelly Sotherton is warming up in the bowels of the NIA ahead of her 800m showdown with Carolina Kluft.

Sotherton needs to beat Kluft by 1.65 seconds to pip her to the European title - and become the first woman to beat Kluft in a multi-discipline event for five years."
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce at the National Indoor Arena

1822: Here we go then. Sweden's Susanna Kallur wins the first medal of the championships on the track. The Swede gets off to a sluggish start but defends her 60m hurdle title in 7.87 seconds.

"It's really great," said Kallur. "It's been a really fun day and it's nice to run some fast times. It takes a lot of hard work and I'm really pleased."

Britain's Sara McGreavy finishes fifth and said: "I got a fantastic start but it was such a shame and I need to work harder on my strength. I'll be in the medals next season."

Silver goes to Russian Aleksandra with Germany's Kirsten Bolm picking up the bronze.

In the field, Slovakia's Mikulas Konopka claims the men's shot put title with his second attempt of 21.57m.

1807: Steven Green may be sharing a room with 60m favourite Craig Pickering but Pickering's pace has not quite rubbed off on the 400m runner as he finishes fourth in the first semi-final and will not make Saturday's final.

Britain's Rob Tobin and Ireland's David Gillick bumped and barged each other in the second semi-final with Gillick, the defending champion, just coming through to win in 46.19 seconds.

"Gillick just pipped Tobin which may give him a bit of a psychological advantage. This race is set up beautifully and I dare you to pick a winner."
BBC commentator Steve Cram

1800: "Those extra eight centimetres Kluft squeezed out of Sotherton in the long jump could prove crucial.

"With only the 800m to go, Kluft's lead of 24 points is small but significant. If you want clues as to who'll come off better in the final four laps, Sotherton's 800m PB is almost a second faster than Kluft's - except indoors, where Kluft's is fractionally faster..."
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce at the National Indoor Arena

1756: "There were a few question marks after Nicola Sanders's first heat, but now now - that was just what the doctor ordered."
BBC commentator Stuart Storey

1754: A classy performance from Nicola Sanders marks her out as the woman to beat in the 400m. She sets off quickly from the outside lane, and none of her rivals can even get close as she finished in a time of 51.06 seconds.

1750: Romania's Adelina Gavrila is setting the standard in qualification for the women's triple jump, with an opening leap of 14.24 guaranteeing her a place in the final.

1747: Bulgaria's Ilona Usovich destroys the field with a superb performance in the first women's 400m semi-final, leaving Britain's Emma Duck trailing in fifth.

1740: A UK Athletics spokeswoman says the desperately unlucky Karen Harewood is being treated for a suspected broken leg after the horrific pile-up in her 800m heat.

1732: Britain's Helen Clitheroe goes through in the women's 1500m, finishing second behind Slovakia's Sonja Roman.

1720: A senior Great Britain debut to remember for the baby of the team. The 18-year-old James Brewer wins his 800m heat in one minute 50.40 seconds.

1710: The men's shot put final is also in full swing as the big men of the field events do battle. Slovakia's Mikulas Konopka is in pole position. His second attempt is a massive 21.57m - a new national record and the longest in Europe this year.

1655: Qualification for the women's high jump is under way, but the competition is yet to really get going. None of the athletes have cleared the 1.96m automatic qualification mark yet.

1651: Poor old Karen Harewood is still being treated on the side of the track with what is clearly a serious leg injury.

A stretcher is waiting to take her out of the arena.

1647: Kelly Sotherton jumps 6.51m with her final long jump effort but she is disappointed with it. It leaves her behind Carolina Kluft, and the Briton knows she will have to produce something special in the final 800m to take gold.

But the long jump has proved the undoing of one-time leader Jessica Ennis. She cannot find any rhythm, and her final jump sees her take off more than two feet behind the board. Unsurprisingly she falls to sixth in the standings.

1634: There are squeals of pain from the track in the women's 800m heats as a big pile-up sees four of the six athletes crash to the floor. Britain's Karen Harewood is the injured athlete, with a bad twist to her knee leaving her in agony.

Harewood was leading the race, but was accidentally clipped from behind and the domino effect behind her gives Tetyana Petlyuk and Brigita Langerholc a stroll to the line.

The medics are still attending to a distressed Harewood.

Earlier, her team-mate Marilyn Okoro went through with an impressive second place behind Russia's Oksana Zbrozhek, while Jenny Meadows is also through.

1625: "Allan Scott was phenomenal and I think that is one of the things about having home advantage - it can really lift you.

"Andy Turner is struggling with his trail leg and that is slowing him down. There's nothing he cannot fix though between now and the final - he still produce something special and we know he is much better than that"
BBC Sport commentator Colin Jackson

1621: Andy Turner joins his team-mate Allan Scott in the 60m hurdles final. He does not look at his best though, as he battles to third place in his heat.

1618: "Huge applause for home-town favourite Kelly Sotherton as she stands on the long jump runway.

"Sotherton's been working the crowd with the skill of Jon Bon Jovi at his peak, appealing to them for inspiration and letting them know at regular intervals that she couldn't do any of this without them."
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce at the National Indoor Arena

1617: A brilliant jump from Kelly Sotherton in the long jump section of the pentathlon looks like another PB - but the red flag goes up much to her annoyance. Replays show that her big toe is fractionally, fractionally over the line.

1613: A tremendous run from Britain's Allan Scott makes sure of his place in the men's 60m hurdles final. He is credited with third place, just one-hundredth of a second behind Gregory Sedoc and Jackson Quinonez who cannot be split on the stopwatch.

Surprisingly, Latvia's Stanislav Olijar finishes fifth and is out of the final.

1605: Britain's Sara McGreavy qualifies for the women's 60m hurdles final with a time of 8.10 seconds in her semi. She finishes third, but make sit as one of the fastest losers.

1600: Sweden's Susanna Kallur gets the afternoon session off to a flying start in Birmingham as she sets a world-leading time of 7.84 seconds to qualify for the 60m hurdles final.

She is the defending European Indoor champion - and looks favourite to retain her crown after that performance.

1529: There was plenty for British fans to cheer in this morning's action.

Kelly Sotherton and Jessica Ennis have taken the fight to Swedish superstar Carolina Kluft in the pentathlon. After three events, Sotherton leads Kluft - by just two points - while Ennis is still in it despite slipping from first to fifth after a disappointing shot put.

Mo Farah recovered from a fall halfway through his 3,000m heat to qualify for the final, while Andy Turner posted the joint quickest qualifying time in the 60m hurdles.

Nathan Douglas and Phillips Idowu both qualified for the triple jump final with something to spare and Robert Tobin looked in top form as he won his 400m heat.

And gold medal prospect Nicola Sanders won her 400m heat, although she had to work harder than she would have liked.

1525: After the breathless excitement of the opening ceremony, there is something of a lull in Birmingham as the entertainers take the leave.

The first action of the afternoon on day one is set to start at 1545 with the semi-finals of the women's 60m hurdles.

1500: The obligatory opening ceremony is well under way at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, although organisers have taken the slightly unusual approach of scheduling it halfway through the day after five hours of athletics.

Decked out in navy blue, the dancers go through some highly gymnastic routines on the running track to the minimalist soundtrack of a live percussion-led band.

They depart to be replaced by some people - on skates, mind - carrying a gigantic flag with the event's logo on it. For some reason, they are wearing rounded cycle helmets and have their faces painted either red, white or blue. I think it might have something to do with the union jack.

After a gospel version of "God Save The Queen", a local dignitary gives a speech praising Birmingham's ability to host the Championships.

There are also flag bearers, waving away happily in the middle of the arena, representing the 45 different countries competing in the Championships.

Mercifully, the whole thing is over within about 20 minutes. Funny things, opening ceremonies, but my rule of thumb tends to be the shorter, the better.