Muir gets her world medal at fifth time of asking

Athletics 19 Jul 22

Two years ago Laura Muir had no global outdoor medals. Now she has two.

Muir won her first World Championships medal at the fifth time of asking last night, delivering a mesmeric run in the 1500m final to claim bronze and seal Great Britain’s first podium in Oregon.

The Olympic silver medalist came into the race as a podium favourite and delivered on that promise, challenging the leaders throughout one of the fastest women’s World Championship 1500m finals ever.

She even ran a season’s best of 3:55.28 minutes to finish close behind silver medalist Gudaf Tsegay and two-time world champion Faith Kipyegon.

“This time last year I didn’t have any global outdoor medals and now I have two. I am so delighted,” she said.

“This was the one that was bugging me. After I got the silver last year, I was like this is the year I am going to get it and now I’ve got it. It was all about this world medal, at the fifth time trying. I took my time but I’m so happy I’ve got it.”

Tsegay of Ethiopia set the pace early and Muir remained part of the trio that would soon steal away from the rest of the pack. The speed at which the leaders set off was impressive but did not catch Muir off guard.

“That is a World Championship final. You have got to expect it to be hard and be quick. The splits on that race were on extra level," she added.

“Faith and Tsegay are two of the greatest 1500m runners there has ever been.”

Success at the World Championships had long evaded Muir, who missed out on a medal in four consecutive games. And it looked as though that run would continue after the Scot was side-lined due to a back injury earlier this year. But as the going got tough, Muir’s resolve never faltered.

“I had the most significant injury of my career this February," she added. "I didn’t run for two months. That is the longest time I’ve had off running since starting but I had confidence in myself and my ability.”