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Laura Muir Europe's golden girl again after 'hardest race I've ever run'

Laura Muir celebrates after her triumph in Munich. Picture: Getty
Laura Muir celebrates after her triumph in Munich. Picture: Getty

LAURA MUIR labelled her hard-fought European 1500m title defence the ‘hardest race she’s ever run’ after a lightning turn of pace propelled her to a third major medal of the summer in Munich.

The Scottish middle distance star left herself with considerable work to do before hitting the accelerator at the pivotal moment to burst clear of the field and retain the title she won in Berlin four years ago.

Muir, 29, clocked a red-hot time of 4:01.08 to finish 1.48s clear of Ireland’s Ciara Mageean - who ran a bold race to seal silver – and Poland's Sofia Ennaoui in front of a bumper crowd at the city’s 1972 Olympic Stadium.

The Inverness ace bagged a brilliant bronze at last month’s World Championships in Eugene before following it up with a long-awaited Commonwealth title in Birmingham.

Cramming three major championships into the space of five weeks was never going to be easy and Muir, who also won Commonwealth 800m bronze, admits it almost got the better of her after a gruelling sporting summer.

She said: “It looked hard on paper but actually doing it in person, never again.

“It was an amazing opportunity and a very unique one that we’d ever get three championships in a year, let alone in five weeks in the summer.

“It’s just insane but I said you know what, I’ll give it a go.

“I got a medal at all three and to win the Commonwealths and win here, I’m so happy.

“This was the hardest one – on paper it looked the easiest one event, only two rounds, but it’s the easiest out of the three physically.

“But it was so tough mentally  – the most difficult race I think I’ve ever run.

“It was so hard – credit to all the other athletes who have done the three events, because it’s so difficult.”

Muir appeared to start sluggishly under the Friday night lights before kicking into gear ahead of the final lap to leave the rest of the field in the rear view mirror.

Mageean bravely attempted to live with Muir’s punishing pace but did not have enough in the locker as the Scot, who also won silver at last year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, crossed the line in splendid isolation to prompt emotional scenes.

Muir added: “My coach looked at all the split and said nobody could match you over 400m, so if you give a good kick and maintain it, then I think you’ve got a good chance.

“Credit goes to him for the tactics – he made a good call there and I had to stick to it as best I could.

“Sometimes the 1500m is unpredictable and you never know, but it went to plan.”

Earlier in the evening, Jake Wightman delivered a damning assessment of his latest 800m display despite sailing into the final.

The 1500m world champion has opted to run a shortened distance this week in a bid to showcase his versatility and keep his future options open.

And it could have backfired on Friday night as Wightman, 28, was forced into a final lap battle to keep his medal hopes alive.

He hit the throttle when the pressure was on to plough through the field and cross the line in a time of 1:46.61 behind Spaniard Mariano Garcia.

Wightman admits he fell well short of the ‘perfection’ he desired but can take significant confidence from the fitness levels demonstrated off the final bend.

The Scot, who won Commonwealth 1500m bronze in Birmingham earlier this month, said: “I actually ran that very poorly.
“I thought I’d screwed it up as I was in such a bad position.

“I wasn’t good - basically, I wanted to go and be as close to perfect as possible and I thought I’d be alright.

“But I was very far from perfect – I made a lot of mistakes from horrible positions, but the fact I still got through is quite a big confidence boost for me.

“The confidence I’ve taken is that I must be fit enough if I can come back from that position, because that’s not where I want to be.

“There’s guys that have a lot quicker 400m pace – I don’t really know, I haven’t run enough 800m to know what I can run this season.”

Jemma Reekie navigated her way into tonight’s 800m European Championship final with a mature performance in the second heat of the day.

The Kilbarchan star, 24, finished second ahead of British teammate Alex Bell as she chased home French star Renelle Lamote in a time of 2:00.30.

Reekie has endured a turbulent summer of athletics and was unable to qualify for the Commonwealth final after being crowned British national champion in Manchester in June.

She scraped through a scrappy European semi-final on Friday and hopes keeping calm under pressure can fire her towards a first major medal.

“I got a good position but then I was shoved, she said.

“But in my head I was like: ‘Stay calm, stay calm and get your tactical head on now.’

“I was thinking just don’t panic.

“I know I have a good sprint finish, so I just waited until the last 200m and got through.”
Bell, who finished seventh in last year’s Olympic final in Tokyo, added: “I think even though I have been racing for so long, it’s only been this season now with every race I am doing that they’re stressing me less when it gets bargy, clumpy, and trippy.

“In the past, I have panicked at that point.

“So I am just conserving more energy because the more composed you are, the more energy you save.”