Gillick looks in good form ahead of the World Indoors in Doha

David Gillick equalled his Irish indoor 400m record as he clinched an impressive victory at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday.

Gillick clocked 45.52 seconds which matched the time he set on the same track when he won the European Indoor title in 2007.

The time was also the second fastest in the world this year behind American Torrin Lawrence.

Gillick now looks a strong medal contender for the World Indoors.

The Irishman, who finished sixth in last year's World Championships in Berlin, totally dominated the field with Rabah Yousif of Sudan finishing a distant second in 46.24 seconds.

Jamaica's Ricardo Chambers led at the bell but Gillick exploited a gap on the inside to move into the lead before extending his advantage in the closing stages.

Gillick slowed noticeably in his closing two strides which prevented him from improving his Irish record.

However, the Dubliner was delighted with his performance ahead of next month's World Championships in Doha.

"I knew I was in good shape but I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to run today," said Gillick.

"If I had known how fast the race was, I would have dipped to break the national record."

Kelly Proper finished fifth in the women's Long Jump in 6.33m - .30 outside her Irish record - while Derval O'Rourke withdrew from the women's 60m Hurdles for precautionary reasons because of illness.

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