ACTION MÜLLER ANNIVERSARY GAMES, LONDON
LAURA MUIR showed her Doha
preparations are well and truly on
course as she won the women’s
1500m in a quick 3:58.25.
While her likeliest most
dangerous opponents in Qatar,
Genzebe Dibaba, Sifan Hassan,
Shelby Houlihan, Jenny Simpson
and Gudaf Tsegay, were absent
and her expected biggest rival in
London, Olympic champion Faith
Kipyegon, was a late withdrawal, the
Scot’s 57.54 last lap suggests that
her kick will be a match for anyone
in the world.
For those hoping for a very fast
time, the early pace was a little
disapointing with Hannah Segrave
running the first two laps in 65.
and 2:11.03 and even a sub-four
time now looked in doubt. However,
the third lap was slightly quicker as
Muir assumed control and led past
1200m in 3:15.03 with Konstanze
Klosterhalfen the only athlete able
to stay close as the European
indoor and outdoor champion
gradually accelerated.
In the last 200m, Muir began to
edge clear before she pulled well
away as the German wilted in the
closing stages.
The Scot completed her last
300m in a vicious 43.14 and it was
Kenyan Winny Chebet who chased
her home in a distant 3:59.93.Muir’s last 800m was around
2:02 and it was her 11th sub-four
performance and she said: “It may
have looked easy, but it wasn’t! I
didn’t realise I ran a 57-second
last lap and I’m so so happy about
that. The girls are really strong and
I know that my advantage is in
that kick, so I just sat in there and
tried to take it easy. It was all about
winning today and I did that.”
She added: “London is a really
fast track and it’s always a great
atmosphere. The conditions are
usually pretty good - it was a little
bit windy today, but the whole vibe
of the place is really special and it
makes athletes raise their game. It’sgreat to have so much competition.
My goal now is to win a medal in
Doha.”
In third the improving Gabriela
Debues-Stafford set a Canadian
record 4:00.26 with Winnie
Nanyondo and Klosterhalfen
completing the top five.
Also inside 4:01 in sixth was
Sarah McDonald, who continued her
superb form to set a PB 4:00.46 to
move to seventh all-time among
British athletes.
Muir’s training partner Jemma
Reekie also broke new ground with
a 4:02.09 in seventh in an event
that has six UK Doha qualifiers this
summer.Laura launches London kick
Laura Muir:
controlled
the 1500m
race to win in
emphatic style