Muir determined to make amends after low of Glasgow

Laura Muir is on a mission in Birmingham. Not an impossible one. Not even a secret expedition. a first medal from the Commonwealth Games would plug the one significant gap on her illustrious CV. ‘For me, it’s unfinished business,’ she says. Eight years on from a botched operation at Hampden Park, she has a wrong to right. useful motivation. at 29, she has shone at countless major championships. able to shrug off nuisances with a strength that has taken her to Olympic silver and World Championship bronze within a glorious 12 months. For all her formidable successes, coming 11th in the 1500-metres final at Glasgow 2014 still rankles. She was tripped. There is mitigation. But on home turf, she had huge ambitions and they were not met. ‘That’s the most frustrating one,’ she reveals. ‘i felt like i wasn’t in control of that. it’s so upsetting, because i felt like i couldn’t do what i knew i could do. Whereas at the rio Olympics, yes i missed out on a medal, but that was just the way i ran the race. and i chose to run it that way. There wasn’t anybody that disrupted that. ‘in Glasgow, i wasn’t able to actually do what i wanted to do. i feel like that was the probably the most upsetting result of my career. So i’d love to turn the tables on that this year.’ a fortnight removed from capturing her first outdoor world medal in Oregon, Muir (pictured) had signalled she would focus solely again on the 1500m as the athletics competition gets under way today at alexander Stadium. Not so, her coach andy Young confirmed yesterday. Muir is set to swing for a double in the 800m which begins with this morning heats. a tough domestic field awaits: world silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson is the clear favourite, Muir’s training partner Jemma reekie is seeking to ignite her season following disappointment Stateside, while Fifer Jenny Selman is an outside tip amid her late career renaissance. Muir will be odds-on for 1500m gold here. The 800 is a second string to her bow. She will not fear the chance of falling shy of victory, first time around. The Scot feels she owes much to the Games. From failure at Glasgow 2014 emerged the blueprint for so many successes since. ‘i had the Europeans really quickly off the back of Glasgow,’ she reflects. ‘But i was still just so devastated from Glasgow, i didn’t even qualify for the final when i probably could have gone and won a medal. and then in 2015, i just had this mind switch to realise where you can’t control everything. You’ve just got to try and do the best you can and take on the chin that some things will happen.’ reekie, fourth in Tokyo, has had similar cause to reflect in recent months. Glandular fever at the outset of the year has brutally turned her trajectory downwards. She did not qualify for March’s European indoors when Selman blocked the way. Then a semi-final at the worlds that was short of her expectations. regular battles with fatigue have disrupted her quest to alter her approach to be in the medal mix in the race for medals at the Paris 2014 Olympics. ‘These guys are just so strong,’ she says. ‘i’ve just had to go away from it and think

what can i do to make myself a bit stronger over the 800.’ Elsewhere today, Kirsty Law chases a medal in the women’s discus, while adam Thomas goes in the men’s 100m.