Double-Diamond haul seals Laura’s stunning season
LAURA MUIR is becoming one of the crown jewels of world athletics — and she sparkled again in Brussels last night by claiming her second Diamond League title in three years. In a high-class field, the 25-year-old Scot kicked clear of American star Shelby Houlihan down the home straight to win the 1,500 metres in 3:58.49. It rounded off a stunning season which has seen her win European gold and two world indoor medals. But this required one final, major effort. ‘I felt very heavy and even my arms were full of lactic acid, but on the other side I felt very good at the same time,’ said Muir. ‘With the positioning, I’ve learnt from my past mistakes. For once, I didn’t want to go too fast in the first half of the race.’ Fellow Scot Jake Wightman took fourth place in the 800m final behind Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir. Christian Coleman of the USA won the 100m in 9.79 seconds — the quickest time since 2015, with Britain’s Reece Prescod fourth and defending champion CJ Ujah finishing seventh. Shara Proctor followed her European bronze medal with second place in the long jump after leaping 6.7m with her penultimate attempt, 10cm shy of Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen, the Olympic triple jump champion. Lorraine Ugen, who was ranked No 1 in the world this year, finished in sixth place on 6.53m. Lynsey Sharp won the non-Diamond League 800m in 1:59.93. ‘It was great to end this season with that kind of victory, with my season’s best,’ said the Scot.