Dame Kelly: Laura has the ability to win just whatever she wants
Laura Muir heads to the World Athletics Championships this week with the hopes of a nation upon her.
The 1500m runner hasn’t raced since July after suffering a calf injury, but will be among the favourites to claim a medal for Team GB in Doha.
That pressure would unsettle some athletes but one of her biggest fans, Dame Kelly Holmes, reckons the Scot will simply take it in her stride.
And Holmes thinks a good performance here will catapult Muir into Olympic medal contention next summer.
“I’ve met Laura a couple of times and she doesn’t seem like someone who carries the weight of expectation on her shoulders,” said Holmes, who won Olympic 800m and 1500m gold in Athens in 2004.
“She seems very levelheaded and a smart girl. She has that ability to focus on what she wants to achieve and not try to do what other people want for her. That’s a mindset you need to have.
“She’s brilliant, a really good athlete. And she’s clearly worked very hard. What I’m seeing is that she’s starting to race better. It’s one thing running fast – and she clearly has that ability – but you can see having reached world level she now knows what’s expected of her in training.
“There are other athletes as good at that level but she’s got the ability to win whatever she wants.”
At the last World Championships, in London two years ago, Muir – who hails from Kinross-shire – only missed out on a medal by seven hundredths of a second.
Since then the 26-year-old has claimed the European title in Berlin, and also took silver in the world indoor championships in Birmingham last year.
Holmes believes Muir can top the lot with a medal in Doha before going for Olympic success next summer in Japan.
“If Laura does well at the World Championships it will raise her confidence that she can beat the best in the world,” she added.
“If she goes to Doha and wins then she can use that as a platform to succeed in Tokyo, as long as she realises it’s just a catalyst for the next thing. It doesn’t automatically make you the best. It will be a test of her standard and then it’s about maintaining that.
“It would be brilliant for Scotland to have an Olympic champion. And I truly believe she has the capability to achieve that. I would never doubt that. Once you have the elevation of confidence you start to feel almost unbeatable.”
Holmes reckons having not yet won a medal at world or Olympic level will drive Muir on, just as it did her.
“If I hadn’t got scared when I was in front with 30 metres to gointhefinalatthesydney Olympics then I would never have won two gold medals in Athens four year later,” she revealed.
“It was that determination and will to win that kept me going. And it will be the same for Laura. She will want to prove a point.”