Bold Reekie! Jemma wins yet again as Muir misses record
In-form Reekie surges to Muller Grand Prix victory Pole vault phenomenon Duplantis sets new mark
On the day Laura Muir was given top billing in her home town of Glasgow, two stars of the future stole the show instead.
Armand Duplantis is, of course, a genuine superstar already, and having broken the pole vault world record last week aged just 20, he cemented his status as the sport’s most exciting young talent by surpassing that mark with another world record at yesterday’s Muller Grand Prix.
But it is the emergence of Jemma Reekie, 21, that is most compelling from a British perspective. A triple national record-holder over the past two weeks, Reekie blitzed her way to a stunning 1500metres victory, to prove herself a real threat to Muir’s title as Britain’s middle-distance queen. That the pair are training partners only adds to the intrigue.
For Muir, who fell some way short of her bid to break the indoor 1,000m world record, the battle is on. Asked whether the relative novice Reekie should now be considered on a par with her, Muir said: “I think we’re very close to that. She’s got the speed and I’ve got the endurance.
“I’d probably give her the 800m and I’d give myself the 3,000m or the 5,000m. At the 1500m, I think we’re very close.
“So it’s really exciting and, at the same time, it’s great for training because we’re pushing each other. We’ve got two world-class athletes training together.”
Reekie must wonder when the dream is going to end. First, she set a British indoor 800m record on this same Emirates Arena track, then she achieved the novel feat of breaking two records in the same race when bettering Muir’s British indoor 1500m and mile marks in New York.
The cat was out of the bag and any hope of flying under the radar were gone. Clocking the fastest indoor 800m time anywhere in the world for 14 years tends to have that effect.
Yesterday there was no record time, but it was the manner of her 1500m victory that was eye-opening. Seemingly boxed in as the field approached the bell for the final lap, Reekie located a gap with expert precision before displaying a scintillating turn of foot that will serve as a warning to the best middle-distance runners across the globe. Up she burst onto Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum’s heel, until leaving the former world indoor silver medallist for dead to triumph in four minutes 4.07 seconds.
That Reekie was not even fully satisfied shows the extent of her astonishing progress since exiting the 1500m heats at last year’s World Championships.
“I was hoping I was going to beat my own British record,” Reekie said. “But that’s OK – I’ll take the win. I think that just shows the shape I’m in, but I’ve got a lot more to give.
“I knew this could be a great race and that I could win it. That’s the difference: I’m not just coming to line up on the track now. I’m coming to win.”
There was less joy for Muir, who was always going to triumph over a weak 1000m field, but fell more than three seconds short of a world-record bid she had boldly said she was “pretty confident” of achieving.
Passing the pacemaker with 400m remaining, a lone Muir soon slipped off the necessary pace and faded in the closing stages to finish in 2min 33.47sec – one and a half seconds down on her own British record.
“It was hard,” said Muir, who missed December track training with an Achilles tendon problem. “We set off at a good pace but we lost a wee bit around 600m and that was hard to claw back.
“I gave it a good shot and for where I am in my training, it’s really solid and I can build on that throughout the year.”
On Reekie, she added: “She is like a little sister to me, so to see her doing really well doesn’t put a downer on me whatsoever. It’s great to see and it makes me push even harder and be a better athlete too.”
Duplantis, in setting a second world record in as many competiis tions, proved that his pre-competition declaration that there are “endless possibilities” to how high he can jump was no folly.
With victory long ago assured, the American-based Swede flew over 6m and then asked for the bar to be set one centimetre higher than the world record 6.17m he had posted only last weekend in Poland. The manner in which he achieved it yesterday was frightening, requiring just one effort.
The child phenomenon of pole vaulting, who set world bests at every age group from seven to 12, has now become an adult the likes of which the world has never seen. With a $30,000 (£23,000) bonus every time he breaks the world record, this could become a lucrative business.
“I’m in good shape,” he said, with no little understatement. “Once I was going over the bar I knew I had it. “[Clearing the bar] is the best little split-second that could ever be. Everything builds up to that one tiny little moment. That little freefall is magical.”
Elsewhere, Andrew Pozzi maintained his perfect record this year with a fifth 60m hurdles victory in as many races to triumph in 7.57sec, double Olympic champion ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce clocked 7.16m to win the women’s 60m and Ronnie Baker took the men’s equivalent in 6.50sec.