Muir shrugs off the cold to turn up heat in Oregon
Little fazes Laura Muir, neither foe nor furry animal. And the Scot shook off illness and jetlag to land a second place on her Diamond League return in Oregon which was an avowed statement of intent for the season ahead.
Four days after formally passing her veterinary degree, the 25-year-old saved the best of her summer debut until last by bolting from seventh at the start of the final lap of the 1,500 metres of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.
Muir’s now familiar determined surge over the closing strides left her a mere 24-hundredths of a second behind unheralded American Shelby Houlihan, who won in a world leading time of 3:59.06.
However, Muir’s coach Andy Young revealed: “Laura got to LA, got a sore throat and a cold, had to take more time off and couldn’t do a track session. She’s still sounding bunged up.”
Freed from the distraction of studies and internships, Muir will now fly back to Europe to continue her build-up towards chasing the European title in Berlin in August. “I’ll run Stockholm and Oslo and then do some altitude training before the British Championships,” she said.
Elsewhere in Oregon, Reece Prescod underlined his impressive form by running the second fastest 100 metres in British history with his time of 9.88 seconds – which was just outside the allowable
0 Laura Muir: Late surge. wind limit – only one-hundredth short of Linford Christie’s best set 25 years ago. Nethaneel Mitchell-blake was fifth in the 200m.
Meanwhile, Mark Dry admitted he wants the wrangle over who pays for expensive hip surgery to be speedily sorted after he slumped to 11th place in the hammer at the Halle International.
The Commonwealth Games bronze medalist could manage a best of only 70.04 metres and now wants to go under the knife as soon as possible, even though it will bring his season to an end.
“It is just hard,” said Dry, who saw Poland’s Pawel Fajdek set a world-lead of 80.70m with victory. “I’m just missing a few gears. I need a rest and to get this op done. I just don’t have the power in my leg.”
Chris O’hare bounced back from his Gold Coast disappointment to secure the British mile title in 4:03 at yesterday’s Vitality Westminster Mile with Jake Wightman fifth. Melissa Courtney landed the women’s title.
European junior champion Jemma Reekie lowered her personal best to 4:10.10 in coming second in the 1500m behind European senior medalist Ciara Mageean at the BMC Grand Prix in Watford with Erin Wallace fourth. Kirsten Mcaslan kept up her promising switch to the 400m hurdles with third place at the IFAM meeting in Oordegem in 58.21 secs. Superbikes: Jonathan Rea was eclipsed by Dutchman Michael van der Mark for the second time in two days at Donington Park yesterday.
Championship leader Rea, who needs one more win to surpass the record of 59 career victories he shares with Carl Fogarty, finished third in race two after being passed by Turkey’s Toprak Razatlioglu on the final lap.
Victory gave Van der Mark an unlikely double, having won race one on Saturday, with the Northern Irishman in second. Rea, pictured, Shinty: Only three points separate the top four sides in the Marine Harvest Premiership following Newtonmore’s 2-1 win over leaders Kinlochshiel at Kirkton. More led through Iain Robinson and Evan Menzies before John Macrae pulled a goal back.
Lovat took advantage and now only trail Shiel on goal difference following their 3-0 win over Caberfeidh at Balgate. Marc Maclachlan’s double and Greg Matheson’s strike sealed the win.
Kyles Athletic fall behind third-placed Newtonmore on goal difference after drawing said: “It was really difficult to make my way to the front and I used up a lot of energy. I’m really disappointed. My guys gave me a great bike and the bike was ready to win, but I wasn’t.” 1-1 with Oban Camanachd at Mossfield.
A Roddy Young double helped Kingussie overcome a 3-1 deficit to defeat Lochaber 4-3 at The Dell while Skye Camanachd won for the first time this season, Jordan Murchison’s hat-trick earning a 3-2 win over Glenurquhart in Portree. Victor Smith’s brace helped Fort William win 3-1 at Oban Celtic. Kilmallie beat Ballachulish 5-1 and Beauly beat Glengarry 4-1. The tie between Inverness and Glasgow Mid Argyll has been rescheduled for Saturday.