‘Athletes feel let down by the decision to let Russia back in’
Laura Muir is prepared to speak out when necessary but doping scandal will not affect her love for running
CHIEF SPORTS REPORTER
Niagara Falls, grizzly bears, the Canadian Rockies and whale watching. It sounded like the perfect ending to “the most stressful, exhausting, rewarding and absolute best” year of Laura Muir’s life, even if a deeply unpopular decision was awaiting on her return.
On the very day that Muir was posting pictures of herself walking across treetops on the Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver, the World Anti-Doping Agency had met to lift its international suspension of Russia’s anti-doping agency, a decision described by a lawyer for whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov as “the greatest treachery against clean athletes in Olympic history”.
It is not something that Muir has publicly commented upon until now and, while her disappointment is tangible, equally striking is a wonderfully refreshing wider perspective on what actually motivates her to run at all.
“The vibe I get is that a lot of athletes are disappointed,” she says. “They feel let down. People have not met the rules that they are meant to and yet they are allowed to come back. I think if something is said, that you have to meet the criteria, then I think you should meet the criteria.
“It’s difficult but, as athletes, we have voiced our opinion. They know we are not happy.”
It is not the first time that Muir has spoken up and, as she now begins preparations, aged 25, for a first full season with the relative luxury of training and racing full-time, her first priorities are repeatedly stated.
They are not gold medals. They are not even specific times, but instead a commitment to enjoying a sport that she would be pursuing with as much passion and enjoyment as a club or park runner had she not developed into the best British middle-distance athlete of her generation.
“I always just ran because I enjoyed it – I barely ever won anything,” she says. “I find now I am a little bit better at it but winning, being successful, is a bonus. Even if I was still the same level as I was, I would still be running.
“Obviously you would love to be really successful but, at the same time, I am still going to be happy, still going to run. When I retire from competitive running, I will still run.
“You want to be competitive and win but I’m not going to get bogged down by it. I love what I do.”
It is an outlook that clearly helps in compartmentalising issues like the Wada decision or suspicions that there might be about other athletes.
“A couple of years ago I was a bit frustrated but you do your sport because you enjoy it,” says Muir. “By getting upset about things, you are letting them win. I just thought, ‘You do this for yourself, your coach and your family, you just need to enjoy it’. Things might happen that you don’t agree with but you are not going to let that affect your happiness. You just have to concentrate on yourself and have that positive mindset, otherwise I think it could consume you. It does happen to a few athletes when they get so bogged down with everything that happens. Yes, there is a place to say things but, at the same time, don’t let them take away too much from your enjoyment of the sport.”
That simple and pure enjoyment was very evident in Portsmouth last week when Muir started and then enthusiastically greeted finishers at the canine event of The Simply Health Great South Run. Yes, the dogs, as well as their owners, had just tackled a 2.5km course as a prelude to various events, including the 10-mile race itself that was won by Eilish McColgan and Chris Thompson. Muir intends to go back to basics for some cross country in the coming weeks, and is upbeat about the International Association of Athletics Federations’ push to include the event at the 2024 Olympics. “On a track, you run against each other a lot and usually over quite set conditions, so you can expect what times people will run,” she says. “Cross country can be different distances, terrains, and temperatures. It can suit so many different people and I don’t think it would be easy to predict what the result would be. I think that would make it really exciting.”
The mud and trails will form part of a new training block which has now begun following an outstanding 2018 season that peaked with wins over 1500metres in both the European Championships and the Diamond League final. The European Indoor Championships in Glasgow are an immediate focus but, when Muir names the precise dates both for next year’s World Championships and then the 2020 Olympic Games, you can already sense the overriding targets.
Having achieved one dream in qualifying this year as a veterinary surgeon, the big question is how being able to focus fully on athletics will impact upon on Muir’s development. She pinpoints additional rest – “sleep more, recover better, no physio appointments at strange times” – rather than any specific desire to increase her training load as the potential upside. She was, after all, working in Glasgow before flying that same day ahead of winning two medals at the World Indoor Championships last March. Equally, Muir believes that some sort of voluntary work – she will be at the London Vet Show next month and may again work in clinics with dogs waiting to be re-homed – can help maintain a healthy balance.
“Both athletics and veterinary can be high pressure environments,” she says. “If I had exams, I could take my mind off them with a run. If I had a big competition, I didn’t have time to overthink if I was working in the morning. It was nice to have the distractions but, at times, it was a bit too much. Veterinary was what
I always wanted to do. Running happened to go well when I was at university.
“I never thought being an elite athlete was possible so, having that career behind me, gives me reassurance and a lot of confidence in myself to just be the very best I can be.”
‘Obviously you would love to be really successful but I will still run when I retire from competition’