Muir can be GB’s new gold standard
DAME KELLY HOLMES reckons Laura Muir can follow her to Olympic gold after overcoming an injuryhit year to run faster than she ever managed.
The double Olympic champion has long been a fan of the young Scot and watched her progress to become Team GB’s heir to her throne as Queen of the 1500 metres.
After a break-out year in 2018 saw her follow up medals at the World Indoors with stunning gold in the Euro Championships and a Diamond League meeting in Brussels, the last 12 months have been a tougher challenge.
A calf injury interrupted much of her schedule this year but Muir managed to regain fitness in time for the World Championships but could only finish fifth in the 1500m final.
Holmes knows that many will look at her place and conclude her year a disappointment but she insists they’re wrong.
The time Muir ran – 3:55.76 – is better than Holmes’ personal best at the height of her success when she claimed gold at the Athens Olympics in both 800m and 1500m.
So on a brief visit to Glasgow to support a charity fundraiser in aid of the Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, big hearted Holmes claimed this year could be the making of her.
Holmes said: “Laura is amazing. As a 1500m runner her consistency, her guts and determination, the way she runs, executes her races is awesome.
“Let’s not undermine her performance at the Worlds. Running 3.55 off an injured year is world class. It was awesome – I never ran that.
“She has the ability to be an Olympic champion, without a doubt.”