Muir braced for a big battle to make the 1500m podium

LAURA MUIR claims earning a medal of any colour at the World Championships could be even tougher than taking Olympic silver last summer. The 29-year-old Scot will be one of the first Brits in action in Oregon tomorrow night in the opening heats of the women’s 1500metres. The strength in depth in the event was underlined when Muir finished fifth in Doha in 2019 despite running her second-quickest time ever. With reigning champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and Tokyo golden girl Faith Kipyegon of Kenya among her rivals in America, Muir (pictured) admits there will be a major battle simply to make the podium. ‘It’s not like I don’t want to win, obviously,’ she said. ‘You want to do as well as you can. But, at the same time, it’s an incredibly competitive event. ‘And the way that Faith is running, it’s insane. She’s amazing. So, as much as I’d love to give winning a shot, I’m realistic — as well as having confidence in myself.’ Meanwhile, Neil Gourley concedes that watching Muir and Josh Kerr make the Olympic podium in Tokyo has made him dream of his own medal run in Eugene. The 27-year-old Glaswegian has bounced back from the injury that put him out of the running for Tokyo where he had hoped to join Kerr and Jake Wightman in an all-Scottish hunt for men’s 1500m success. Gourley is intent on doing far better than his 11th place from Doha last time round. He said: ‘I do have to set the goals high. But the goal is to be on the podium. That will be very difficult but it’s why I’ve been training so hard.’