Laura looks ahead to what is hopefully a summer of success
Laura Muir is hopeful of a successful summer ahead as she prepares to compete on British soil again at today’s Diamond League meeting in Gateshead.
The Scottish middle-distance runner will be one of Britain’s big hopes going into the Tokyo Olympics, where she is bidding for a first major medal at a global outdoor event.
“I never expect to win an Olympic medal,” said the 28-year-old.
“It’s incredibly tough just to make an Olympics, you’ve got to make the final as well, and the events are so strong just now.
“But I would be hopeful that I could win a medal. I’ve been lucky, I’ve been very consistent with my training over the winter, and races have gone really well. And if I could that would be fantastic.”
Muir will run the 1,500 metres in the final race of the evening at Gateshead, where she should prevail comfortably.
The chances of a fast time have been dampened by a cool and soggy weather forecast, but Muir believes bettering the personal best of three minutes 55.22 seconds she set in 2016 could be on the cards in 2021.
“I think I am in PB shape,” she said.
“I’ve been running a few PB sessions. My PB is 3:55 so if I can get close to that or better than that then that would be fantastic.
“I don’t know what racing opportunities there will be to run super, super fast but I certainly think that’s the ball park I’m in at the moment.”
Muir is still weighing up whether to run the 800m as well in Tokyo, saying: “It’s certainly an option. We haven’t made a decision at the moment. It’s still early days.”
There will be 2,000 fans in the stadium today, and Muir is hoping to put on a show in her first race at home since February 2020.
“I’ve not competed on British soil for a long time so it would be lovely to come back and get a win,” she said.
“I’ve been lucky to have a very solid training block and training over the winter a lot better than the previous year. I’m excited to put that on the track in races this summer. Hopefully the weather will be OK.”
It is exciting times for British middle-distance running, with teenagers Max Burgin and Keely Hodgkinson both achieving standout times last week.
Muir said: “It’s very very exciting. It was fantastic to see both of them do so well and have such commanding victories, and from two athletes who are so young as well and running incredibly fast times.
“It’s very encouraging to see not only do we have a couple of athletes running well who are more experienced but also we’ve got the youngsters coming up as well. I think it makes a really interesting dynamic and it’s going to make trials very, very exciting.”