Hotel stay will help with mindset, insists Laura
LAURA Muir will snub home comforts to ensure she is in the right frame of mind to win gold at the World Indoor Championships.
The 30-year-old claimed the 3,000 metres title at the UK Indoor Championships on Sunday after running eight minutes 58.80 seconds to seal victory in Birmingham.
Muir is now planning her assault on the 3,000m at the World Indoors in Glasgow next month, with the British squad announced yesterday.
The Scot, who is based in Glasgow, will race at her home track, but intends to remain with the team rather than stay at home during the championships.
Muir, who won 1,500m and 3,000m gold at the European Indoors in Glasgow in 2019, said: “I’m going to stay in the team hotel. I think it’d be hard to get myself in the mindset that I’m going to compete at a World Championships final.
“It’s better when it’s a straight final to not be coming from my sofa. So I’m going to go into the team hotel.
“I’ve got a lot of fond memories from that track from competing there before. So I’m just going to go there and I’m going to enjoy it and that’s the most important thing.”
Muir and Josh Kerr top the bill in Great Britain’s squad for the Worlds.
World 1,500m champion Kerr will race in the 3,000m in Glasgow as he kicks off his preparations for the Olympics in Paris this summer.
Molly Caudery (pole vault), Morgan Lake (high jump) and Jemma Reekie (800m) are also included.
Several stars, including Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Zharnel Hughes, Keely Hodgkinson and Dina AsherSmith, have opted not to compete as they focus on the summer.
Johnson-Thompson threw 13.29m to come ninth in the shot put, won by Amelia Campbell. She said: “It’s just a decision to throw everything into Paris.”
Paula Dunn, Olympic head coach, said: “We are pleased to announce such a strong team and I am looking forward to seeing how the team perform on the world stage.
“We had a thrilling National Championships where athletes secured their places for the team in Scotland and it was fantastic to see a number of athletes stepping up when it counted.
“This is a really exciting squad that includes global medallists as well as athletes who will be hoping to make an impact on the world stage for the first time.”