MUIR CHASES DIAMOND CUT TO HER TIMES
LAURA MUIR wants to continue breaking new ground in Monaco tonight – and cement her status as a Diamond League star.
The European champion has saved some of her best efforts for the Herculis meeting, which has again attracted athletics’ A-list.
The 27-year-old will test herself in the 1000 metres against fellow Scot Jemma Reekie as well as Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon and Northern Ireland’s Ciara Mageean.
And Muir recognises her regular sampling of the high life among Monaco’s millionaires has brought a rich vein of results.
She said: “It’s been a really good competition for me.
“I broke four minutes the first time in 2015 over 1500m, ran 8:30 over 3000m in 2017 – which was an outdoor personal best at the time – then ran my 800m PB there last year.
“Three times, three bests in three different distances. And this year it’s another different distance so hopefully it’ll be another PB.
“Around 2:30 would be nice. It’s difficult to know because a 1000m outdoors can be a bit unpredictable, depending on how it’s run.
“It’s one of those races where, if you don’t get it right, it can really hurt.”
Athletes have been placed in a bubble – in a luxurious seafront hotel – away from the public over the past 72 hours.
But Muir, a close second to Reekie in Italy a fortnight ago, feels refreshed after a more frugal training stint in the French Pyrenees.
She said: “We’d been stuck in Glasgow for so long – it was nice to have the change of scenery.
“It didn’t feel as hard as I’d remembered. Altitude normally is hard but just having that environment, you forget about things.”
Eilish McColgan faces double world champions Sifan Hassan and Hellen Obiri in the 5000m.
Jake Wightman takes on Norwegian star talent Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kenya’s world champion Timothy Cheruiyot as he chases a first Diamond League victory since 2017.
Wightman said: “That race showed me I can beat these athletes. I beat Elijah Manangoi who went on to win the world title. Confidence-wise, knowing I can win a race of that calibre, I thought, ‘Why can’t I do it in a championships?’.
“It’s tainted because my worlds in 2017 wasn’t as good as it could have been. Diamond Leagues don’t mean anything – you really need to turn up at champs.”