The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
McConnell convinced Muir can handle hype
ATHLETICS: Former Olympian backs fellow Scot for further success
Lee McConnell believes Hampden heartbreak five years ago and a growing sense of maturity will allow Laura Muir to cope with being the face of Scottish athletics.
Middle distance specialist Muir won an unprecedented double-double at the European Indoors in Glasgow earlier this month as she successfully defended her 1,500m and 3,000m titles at the Emirates Arena.
The pressure was intense on the Kinross-shire athlete as the home favourite, event ambassador and poster girl for the host GB and NI team.
Muir now regards raised expectations as support rather than pressure and has her own high hopes for the IAAF World Championships in Doha this autumn and then the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
And McConnell, who qualified for the Olympics three times in her own track and field career, feels the Dundee Hawkhill Harrier can take the strain.
“I am really impressed with the way Laura is handling the spotlight,’ said McConnell.
“She is delivering big performances on the track, and medals, and off the track she is coping well with all the hype.
“Laura looks confident now and that comes over in the media interviews. She is sensible, she is committed and she knows what she wants and needs to do to merit the attention.
“It is clear to me that she can cope with the nerves and the pressure that come with being a favourite.”
McConnell should know. For 10 years or so, she was in many ways the face of athletics in Scotland, shortly before the social media explosion created even more profile.
“You learn from it over time,” said the 40-year-old, who is now a mother of two young boys after six years away from the sport.
“If your face is up on posters, in newspapers and on websites, then you have to get used to that.
“There are knocks along the way – there is a focus that comes on you even when you don’t do well, and you would maybe rather it didn’t.
“Laura has had some knocks and she has grown from that. Arguably, these knocks are helping her deliver the performances now.
“She has not made the same mistakes again. The Commonwealth Games in 2014 were painful for her.
“So then Glasgow 2019 became huge for her for obvious reasons – the Emirates Arena is where she comes every week to put in the training sessions – and all the talk about defending two titles.
“But she put that one to bed at the Emirates. Emphatically.”
If your face is up on posters, in newspapers and on websites, then you have to get used to that. LEE MCCONNELL
* Lee McConnell’s interview appears in the latest edition of PB magazine. McConnell was one of 15 athletes admitted to the scottishathletics Hall of Fame last November.