Laura Muir did not just squeeze out her third successive win of the summer last night in Poland. She strangled the life out of her opposition with yet another pulverising finish.
The European champion bolted to victory in the 1500 metres at the Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, setting a meeting record of 3:58.24 with fellow Scot Eilish McColgan fifth.
Only Muir herself has gone quicker in 2020 and it was her 14th time ducking under the four-minute mark. She ended a second clear of Poland’s Sofia Ennaoui after surging determinedly to the front with 350m left.
On this prolific form, the real shame is that this is no longer an Olympic summer and the 27-year-old has to wait another 11 months to chase the medal she covets most. But the prospect of Tokyo 2021 – or its potential cancellation – is not sitting on her mind.
“I’m not into thinking so far ahead,” said Muir, who will drop to 800m in Ostrava tomorrow. “I prefer to concentrate on things closer to the time, because so much can happen. Nobody would have thought we’d be here six months ago.
“So first things first, I want to be fit and healthy. I have the Olympic qualifying standard but you still have to run trials. You still have to tick the boxes.”
McColgan, Muir’s Dundee Hawkhill Harriers club-mate, held on to clock 4:06.25 and revealed the calendar shake-up has forced her to abandon a half-marathon debut this month.
Guy Learmonth was third in the men’s 800m in 1:45.57, his quickest time for more than two years. Kenya’s Ferguson Cheruiyot passed Wesley Vazquez in the closing stages to win the race but the Borderer’s mark still only moved him up to sixth in an ultra-competitive UK rankings.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Johannes Vetter threw 97.76m for the second longest javelin attempt in history.
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