MIDAS MUIR BAGS GOLD NO.2:
Muir overcomes restless night to achieve her ambition of winning top Euro double
LAURA MUIR struggled to get any sleep after Saturday’s 1500 metres glory but caught her rivals napping with double gold at the European Indoor Championships last night.
The 23-year-old student vet revealed she didn’t drift off until 3am ahead of her fourth race in three days after all the excitement of winning her first title in Belgrade.
But Muir was soon in dreamland as she overcame fatigue to catch Turkish rival Yasemin Can flatfooted with a bolt for victory in the final two laps of the 3000m as she clinched her second gold.
She said: “I got to bed early but just couldn’t sleep because I was buzzing from Saturday.
“Halfway through the race I was thinking ‘I’m a bit tired’ and I was hoping she wasn’t going to ramp it up anymore.
“I managed to hang in there and knew I had the kick so I just waited until 300 to go and then I went for it.”
Having learned lessons from her Olympics disappointment, self-assured Muir is now a force to be reckoned with.
She said: “The training was there before but I didn’t have the confidence. I think it showed in my performance so I’m delighted to do the double I was hoping to.
“I know where my strengths lie. I knew what Can would do being an endurance athlete so I kicked on as much as I could.”
Muir smashed another of Kelly Holmes’s British records 24 hours earlier to make it two European and UK marks since January 1.
Coach Andy Young admits Muir is focused on winning more medals ahead of the World Championships in London this summer.
He said: “I don’t think we’ve reached the limits of how fast she can run.
“These records are lovely but she wants medals and with the World Championships then the Olympics in three years, we don’t need to worry about her taking her foot off the pedal.”
And when Muir took to the podium, there was another Scot to her left with Eilish McColgan taking bronze in a sprint.
The Dundonian has had to fight through injury after injury but now has the reward.
She said: “To come away with a medal is a breakthrough for me. It’s a confidence boost. I know all eyes were on Laura but I couldn’t have done any more.”
Eilidh Doyle won 4x400 relay bronze as Great Britain and Northern Ireland finished second in the medals table with 10 gongs.
The 30-year-old, who has 10 medals in her career, revealed Head of Sprints and Hurdles Steve Maguire tasked her with mentoring the young team.
She said: “I think experience is a nice way of saying I’m the oldest!
“I’ve had so much help from Lee McConnell and Christine Ohuruogu over the years, so I wanted to reassure them it wasn’t that scary. They ran a mature race.”
Asha Philip struck gold in the 60m and there were silvers for Robbie Grabarz in the high jump, Shelayna Oskan-Clarke in the 800m and Lorraine Ugen in the long jump with a British record of 6.97m.