Golden girl Muir has her rivals on run
LAURA MUIR came to Belgrade insisting she was scared of nothing – not even giant spiders.
“I’m the chief get-ridderof-something,” the trainee vet declared on arrival at the European Indoor Championships.
“I’m the one the team nominates to get rid of bugs, bats, anything.”
Inside the Kombank Arena last night the task given her was to dispose of eight rivals in the women’s 1500m final. She did not flinch.
Watched by middledistance legend Sebastian Coe, the 23-year-old broke Kelly Holmes’ British record to win in a time of 4:02.39.
She also smashed the 32-year-old championship best to leave the field trailing in her wake and claim her first senior title.
She said: “It’s a medal and I’m so happy. It has been a long time coming. It feels like the last few years it’s slipped past.
“I was actually quite relaxed because I knew what I had to do. I knew I was stronger than a lot of the girls with my endurance stuff.
“I think I’ve broken the ice there. Hopefully that’s a watershed moment. It’s given me a lot of confidence.”
Starting at the back to stay out of trouble early on, Muir moved to the front with six laps to go. That was that. Seven months after paying a high price for chasing the pace in the Olympic final, she chose to set it herself.
Wearing the same ‘lucky spikes’ that have carried her to five national records in the past year, her only challenge came after crossing the line.
A steward tried to prevent her from doing a lap of honour. The Scot beamed: “They said, ‘We don’t have time’. I thought it’s my first medal. I’m not going to lose out on my lap of honour. At the end of the day, she won’t be able to catch me!”
Muir now turns her attention to today’s 3000m final, in which she is tipped for a golden double.
Podium
She added: “That would be perfect but we’ll see how the legs go. If I can get on the podium, I’ll be happy.”
Richard Kilty confirmed himself sprint king of the boards by retaining his European Indoor crown.
The Teeside Tornado tore past the opposition last night to take 60 metres glory in 6.54 seconds.
Inspired by absent pals James Ellington and Nigel Levine, recovering from a head-on motorbike crash, Kilty was never threatened.
He even triumphed in the test of patience after the finalists were called to their marks FOUR times.
“I’m so excited that I almost started walking,” Levine tweeted.