Relaxed Muir is happy to go into Euro 1500m as gold medal favourite

Laura Muir insists she will handle being the overwhelming favourite at the European Championships. The 25-yearold Scot is expected to become the first British women to win 1500m gold at the championships on Sunday.

Main rival, Holland’s Sifan Hassan, opted to run the 5000m on Sunday instead which leaves Muir heavily tipped for her maiden major outdoor title ahead of today’s heats in Berlin. She is the

0 Laura Muir: ‘It would be great to not just medal but win that title.’

reigning 1500m and 3000m European Indoor champion and knows she must prove herself outdoors.

“Yes, I’ve been one of the bunch before but now I feel

I’ve been separated from the others now a little bit for this event,” she said. “But it means people have the confidence in me to perform well so I’m just taking it as a good thing. Not pressure. I’m relaxed and if I’m relaxed I perform well.

“I’ve proved myself indoors and outdoors – the medals have been stuck on a delay. It would be great to come here and medal, not just medal but win that title. That would be a big confidence booster ahead of next year. It will open things up [Hassan not racing] as she is one of the best athletes in the world. We’ve raced each other a lot and the head to head is close. It would have been a great race to watch but she’s opted to do the 5,000m so I just have to focus on myself. We’ve all been in the same races the last few years.”

Muir was initially selected to run the 800m as well but pulled out before the final squad announcement after a tight Achilles following the mile at the Anniversary Games last month.

But she has declared herself fully fit after jetting into Berlin from her training camp in St Moritz on Wednesday night.

He said: “Yes it’s good. It was a little bit irritated this summer but just having massages in St Moritz at the camp helped, it’s settled down well. I’ve not missed any training and it’s really good. I’m happy with it ahead of Berlin.

“No fears at all, I’m not feeling anything at all. The hayfever is fine too.”