LAURA’S NEW GOLD DREAM
ATHLETICS SCOT BIG IN JAPAN History-maker Muir tipped to follow her indoor heroics with Olympic 2020 glory
BY MARK WOODS SEB COE believes Laura Muir can become an all-time great by grabbing gold at next summer’s Olympics.
The 25-year-old Scot’s stock has never been higher after her displays in Glasgow at the European Indoor Championships delivered a historic repeat 1500-3000 metres double.
Muir’s next big target will be the World Championships in Doha this autumn.
But the way she has found a magnificent extra gear since unburdening herself of the overload of her veterinary studies marks her out as a genuine title contender at Tokyo 2020, two-times Olympic gold medallist Coe claims.
The IAAF president said: “She’s come on a bundle. The difference between the good and the great is the ability to move your feet.
“The ability to change pace, whether it’s breaking clear of defenders or running clear of a pack. That’s what she’s got.
“You didn’t think there was ever going to be a moment that Laura was going to lose. She is in that purple patch where you get into the warm-up area, you get on to the track and you just don’t think you’re going to lose.
“I guess she’s in that space. It’s not a complacency, it’s not an ‘I deserve this and therefore…’ You just think you’re going to be better than anything out there. And I sense that’s where she’s at. Let’s just hope she holds it through Doha then on to 2020. There’s absolutely no reason why she shouldn’t.”
With Katarina JohnsonThompson and Shelayna Oskan-Clarke also striking gold in Glasgow, Coe’s predicting huge success for a new Brit Pack.
And his view is backed by British Athletics boss Neil Black who has tipped Muir to write herself into Olympic history.
He said: “She clearly has the ability and has demonstrated the performances that suggest gold is possible. She’s moving towards almost being a phenomenon.
“She is joining the Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah-type group. There is a little way to go but that’s the journey she’s on.”
A potential cloud emerged on Muir’s horizon last month when she smashed the British Indoor mile record wearing spikes that, it was claimed, may not comply with regulations.
Athletics rules say shoes must be “reasonably available” to all and Muir’s are believed to be prototypes. But there has been no complaint lodged to the IAAF and the matter is not being investigated.
Coe said: “I had shoes which weren’t reasonably available as they were modelled for my feet.
“So we’ve got to be careful how we define ‘reasonably available.’ If you’ve got a spring coil underneath them, it’s a mechanical advantage.
“If they’re designed for the specific need of our top athletes I’m comforted companies are doing that.”
SEB COE