The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dame Kelly gives in-form Muir her seal of approval
ATHLETICS: Double Olympic champion says Milnathort runner is perfect role model
Dame Kelly Holmes has given Milnathort record-breaker Laura Muir a special seal of approval and believes she can be a bona fide medal contender at the World Championships at London this summer.
The middle distance track legend watched her long-standing British Record over 1,500m being eclipsed not once but twice by Dundee Hawkhill Harrier during a memorable 2016.
Muir then smashed the 1000m indoor best held by Holmes at the recent Birmingham Grand Prix to take her second European Record of 2017 – with the Scot now headed to Belgrade this weekend for a double medal bid in the 1,500m and 3,000m with GB and NI at the European Indoors.
And Dame Kelly, the 800m and 1,500m Olympic champion in Athens in 2004, joined the chorus of appreciation for the 23-year-old and held her up as a perfect role model for young Scottish athletes.
“Laura first came to my attention when she was fifth at the World Championships in Beijing in 2015,” Holmes told scottishathletics.org.uk.
“She is an unassuming girl in some respects but you can see she is very strong runner. Laura has shown immense talent on the track becoming the fastest 1,500m runner in the world last year.
“Laura truly can go all the way in the sport -– and by that I mean start to medal at major championships. She has shown her form and has the capability to run fast and now needs to translate that by racing well on the world stage.
“Championships are all about placings and, at only 23, Laura has already taken the world by storm. I believe that in 2017 at the World Championships she can cement her place in history.”
Holmes was a British athletics role model herself before Jessica Ennis-Hill assumed that mantle.
The retirement of Ennis-Hill arguably leaves a vacancy at the top of women’s athletics and Holmes believes young Scots – particularly girls – can look to the likes of Muir, Eilidh Doyle, Lynsey Sharp and Eilish McColgan for inspiration.
“Role models are important in society generally, but role models from the world of sport I believe have the most credibility – especially if you are trying to inspire girls and women,” she added, with Muir, Doyle and Sharp having completely dominated the Scottish Athlete of the Year award in the current decade.
“Scotland have had some amazing talent in the past and it looks like it is continuing. I wish Laura a healthy and productive winter and look forward to following her progress in 2017 and beyond.”
Muir, McColgan and Doyle are among six Scots making up 20% of the GB contingent for Belgrade. They are joined by Steph Twell, Allan Smith and Guy Learmonth.
Dundee Hawkhill duo Muir and McColgan are both doubling up in the 1,500m and 3,000m and start their medal bids tomorrow morning.
McColgan praised her club colleague, saying: “Scottish athletes seem to be having a breakthrough year, Laura doing well pushes on the general level of competition. It means the times that people are running are now being seen as standard.”
Doyle, who claimed victory at the indoor Vienna meeting last month, contests the 400m heats tonight.