Laura Muir: I don’t want to be left thinking ‘what if?’ after London 2017

Laura Muir is no stranger to comparisons.

Regularly likened to Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe as she climbs up the ranks, the 24-year-old is being heralded as the British star to fill the void left by Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah, one already retired and the other turning his back on the track after this summer.

On the surface, the softly spoken Scot seems an unlikely global star for the sport in this country. But she is relishing the prospect of making her mark.

She says: “It’s nice to hear people say that and this is a chance to shine but there are a lot of young athletes capable of filling those shoes.”

At her best, Muir is Farah-esque, the manner in which she obliterated the field at the Diamond League in Paris last year a case in point, so too the double gold (1,500m and 3,000m) at the European Athletics Indoor Championships. Those triumphs in Belgrade give Muir confidence as she bids to double up again, this time over the 1,500m and 5,000m.

With coach Andy Young, Belgrade 2017 had always been about her first major continental titles but the pair were also planning ahead for the worlds just five months later.

“Belgrade certainly helps,” says Muir. “That was a really big confidence boost having dealt with that fine. Physically, it was tiring and mentally, too. I learnt a lot and I know I can be strong in two events, even if it’s different distances over a longer period of time.”

But London is a completely different prospect, Muir’s best for the 1,500m this season some way off that of pace setters Sifan Hassan and Genzebe Dibaba, likely rivals for gold.

It is also a slight concern that her quickest time for the 5,000m dates back to the indoor part of the season.

A stress fracture in her foot cost her two weeks of training in June but she insists she is 100 per cent now and there is reason to believe she can match the golden feats of Farah and Ennis-Hill.

At least publicly, she will not admit to having run through possible celebrations in the hope they go more smoothly than in Belgrade when a steward tried to halt her enjoying the moment.

Matthew Lewis/Getty Images for European Athletics

Muir merely defied her, darting past to host a flag aloft. “Well, there’s 400m of track in London so there’s more space to escape,” she says in the unlikely event of a repeat of such officialdom after her first title. “I was just adamant I wasn’t going to be stopped.”

The story says much about the determination of Muir, who Young claims is so driven in training that he has to occasionally rein in her enthusiasm.

Whether the pair have timed their London preparations just right is a moot point. Young has always said that 2017 would be the first year that Muir could make a stir on the world stage.

She came close to doing so in the 1,500m at last year’s Olympics, taking up the punishing pace of the race only to tire late on and finish outside the medals. Muir makes no apologies for the do-or-die attitude and says she would repeat it if given the chance.

“My mentality is to go for the win, I don’t want to be left thinking, ‘what if?’,” she says.

It is the sort of attitude that marks her out as Britain’s next global running star, even if things don’t go to plan in London from tomorrow night onwards, when she kicks off in the 1,500m heats.

The foot injury was bizarre in that it was an old, healing stress fracture that had not slowed her considerably.

“The foot’s doing well,” is her assessment now. “When I run I don’t notice it at all. I’ve used the last few days to sharpen up but I’m 100 per cent.”

Having experienced the home crowd at the Anniversary Games, she believes they could be the difference between gold and more agony akin to Rio.

“I feel fortunate to run at home and I really thrive on that noise,” she adds. The pressure is on for a home star to rise to the top alongside Farah. Muir is hopeful, even confident it can be her.

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