Neil Gourley says his multi-sport European Championship 1500m heat crystallised his race plan for the final after keeping his hopes of a medal alive in Munich.

The Glasgow star, 27, safely navigated his way through to Thursday night’s showdown by finishing fourth out of 14 runners on Monday evening.

Gourley clocked a rock-solid time of 3:38.07 in the city’s iconic 1972 Olympic Stadium but found himself consistently impeded and struggling for fluency as Michał Rozmys stormed to victory.

Italian and Spanish stars Pietro Arese and Mario Garcia finished second and third and Gourley, a former European Under-23 bronze medallist, admits he learnt some crucial lessons against the trio ahead of Thursday’s climax under the lights.

He said: “I felt a little sluggish out there tonight.
“It was verging on those moments not to panic – I was giving myself a lot to do.

“I knew some gaps would open up but you don’t want to leave yourself that far back.

“I had a lot to do – every single move I made I felt like somebody blocked it.

“I’d been there before so I just had to stay patient. I knew that I had wheels to burn in the last 200m.

“In the final I’m going to have to run it differently because I’m not going to do that again.

“A bit of a fight is a fair way to describe it. It wasn’t how I drew it up, I made some mistakes in there without a doubt, but I knew if I was patient, some room would open up for me to close.

“It just about did and I took advantage of a slim gap.

“I made enough mistakes that I put myself in a position where I had no choice but to come from behind and chance the gaps when they arrived. The worst thing you can do in those moments is panic. I managed to avoid doing that.”

Gourley donned the Team Scotland jersey at this summer’s Commonwealth Games and finished eighth in the 1500m at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium as Australian Ollie Hoare stunned Gourley’s fellow Scot and world champion Jake Wightman.

Two weeks before, Gourley had been eliminated in the World Championships semi-finals in Oregon so knew coming to Munich represented his last chance saloon.

But he pulled off a gutsy run on Monday evening to beat British teammate Matt Stonier to the final automating qualifying spot – Stonier did qualify as a fastest loser – and secure his spot in the final.

Gourley will now have two days to recover and hopes a period of rest and refuelling can fire him towards the podium at the German multi-sport bonanza.

He added: “I had the goal of running in three championships this year.

“I thought I had a good chance of doing well of all three of them – I’m putting everything into this one to see if I can get something out of it.

“I need these two days off now.

“But I wouldn’t have done this if I thought I was completely flat and had nothing left to give.”

The athletics programme kicked off on Monday and elsewhere, Scottish marathon runner Luke Caldwell had a morning to forget on the streets of Munich.

He was unable to complete the men’s race as teammates Philip Sesemann, Mohamud Aadan, Andrew Davies and Andrew Heyes grabbed a seventh-place team finish overall.

Sesemann finished 17th to lead the British team home as German favourite Richard Ringer won the race ahead of Israeli duo Maru Teferi and Gashau Ayale.

Polish star Aleksandra Lisowska triumphed in the women’s contest as Britain’s women finished sixth overall at Munich’s historic Odeonsplatz square.

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 Germany city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website