European Athletics Championships 2014: James Dasaolu and Mo Farah aim to show they fit the bill after Glasgow woe

Glasgow 2014 was a moment of glory for some but for others it was the one that got away. Zurich is a chance to make amends.

When the English team were selected for the Commonwealth Games, James Dasaolu was still not fit enough following a hamstring injury, while Mo Farah had been set to double up in the 5,000m and 10,000m before being hospitalised by illness.

This week, at the European Championships, the pair will return to being the headline acts of the British team, Dasaolu now fully fit arguably for the first time since his run of 9.91 seconds in Birmingham last year and reportedly showing the sort of form in training to suggest Linford Christie’s British record of 9.87s could fall.

“I should pick up a medal,” he said. “I think that’s what’s expected of me. I fancy there will be quite a few British men on the podium in the 100m and 200m.”

Question marks persist over how Dasaolu’s body might hold up, although the London-born athlete said: “I’m confident [I can get through the rounds]. The Europeans are not as high a level as the World Championships so I don’t need to run sub-10 to make the finals. And I’m a better athlete than I was last year.”

There are questions too of Farah. The competition for him should be less tough in Switzerland than it might have been in Scotland but he is still something of an unknown force on track this season.

Farah’s 2014 season was all about the London Marathon, which ended without the British record he had aspired to. Since then, he has focused on training on the track.

The plan is to go for the 5,000m and 10,000m double but he has no idea how his body will hold up between Wednesday’s 10,000m final and the 5,000m on Sunday.