British middle-distance runner Laura Muir claimed a new British and Scottish record for the women’s 1000m at Monaco’s Diamond League meeting at the weekend. Muir finished in second place behind Faith Kipyegon. Muir’s training partner, Jemma Reekie, was also inside the previous record, set by Dame Kelly Holmes in 1997.
Muir beat Holmes’ time of 2:32.55 by two seconds, finishing in a time of 2:30.82.
Speaking to the press afterwards, Muir said, ‘It was so great to be back. I’ve raced once already, but it was a very small meet, so to come here to race in such a great field and the crowd’s response has been really, really nice.
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‘Working together with Jemma has ensured we were working really hard out of lockdown and pushing one another really hard, so even though we didn’t have many competitions, we were still motivated to push each other on and run well.
‘I think you’ve seen that in these last couple of races we’ve been running really well.
‘Racing a time like today gives me a lot of confidence going into an Olympic year.’
Muir and Reekie were also back on the track yesterday evening at the Irena Szewinska Meet in Bydgoszz in Poland. Muir finished in third place in the 800m with a time of 2:00.34. Noelie Yarigo won with a time of 2:00.11. Reekie pulled well clear from the field on her final lap in the 1500m, winning the race.
Former athlete and TV commentator Tim Hutchings said he believes the Olympic delay to 2021 could work in both Muirs and Reekie’s favour.
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