Laura Muir is the only athlete attempting an audacious 1500/3000m double at the European Athletics Indoor Championships and the 23-year-old looks poised to add a brace of medals to the British tally in Belgrade.
Since finishing seventh in the Olympic 1500m final where she was touted as a medal contender, Laura Muir has gone on a tear - across all distances and on all surfaces. Muir’s record since Rio de Janeiro stands at seven wins from nine races - and two runner-up finishes - and the 23-year-old has broken four British or European records in that timespan.
In her first race after the Olympics, Muir improved her British 1500m record to 3:55.22 in Paris and has gone on to break European indoor records at 1000m (2:31.93) and 3000m (8:26.41) and a British record over 5000m (14:49.12). As a mark of her range, Muir almost smashed the Scottish 800m record en route to her European indoor 1000m record in Birmingham.
Doubling up.
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) March 3, 2017
Laura Muir began her quest for a 1500/3000m double by easing through the 3000m heats in 8:55.56. #Belgrade2017 pic.twitter.com/MT0hBKvruN
While some big names are missing the indoor season altogether, Muir is sticking faithful to a tried-and-tested method ahead of the IAAF World Championships in London this August.
“We always do fast speedwork all year round so it’s not like we have to change anything for the indoor season. It just slots into a normal season and we did last year and the year before that and the year before that so it’s always gone well. London is always the big aim but it would be good to get a couple of medals on board in Belgrade as a confidence booster,” she explained on the thought process behind a full indoor season.
After qualifying for the 3000m heats in 8:55.56 just after midday on Friday, Muir was back at the team hotel within half-an-hour in order to rest up and get ready for the 1500m heats. The recovery process - which included a one-mile warm down between races - seemed to work, as Muir edged out Amela Terzic and Konstanze Klosterhalfen to win a competitive 1500m heat in 4:10.28.
“I wanted to conserve as much as I could ahead of the finals tomorrow and on Sunday – home athletes always seem to pull it out the bag, so I had to keep an eye out for (Amela Terzic), but I got the job done,” she said.
“You always want to win a race, so you just have to be sensible and just do what is necessary. The job is done, so I’ll just rest up now.”
Laura Muir's busy day:
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) March 3, 2017
12.15pm - qualifies for the 3000m final
5.05pm - qualifies for the 1500m final#Belgrade2017 pic.twitter.com/XOkkJ63My8