Paris 2024: Laura Muir sets sights on Olympics after strong run at World Athletics Indoor Championships
BySportsbeat
Updated 03/03/2024 at 17:05 GMT
Laura Muir raced on home turf and on a track where she has trained and competed many times, finishing fifth in the women's 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Muir will now turn her gaze on the Paris Olympics. The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
Laura Muir of Great Britain in the womens 3000 metres final during day two of the World Athletics Indoor Championships at Emirates Arena on March 2, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland
Image credit: Getty Images
Laura Muir hoped she had inspired the next generation of athletes by competing at a home World Championships, and her next target is gold in the Olympic Games this summer.
Muir finished fifth in the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, with the Scot unable to keep up with the rapid pace of the leading pack despite the roar of the home crowd.
Elle St. Pierre took gold in a championship-record time of 8:20.87, edging out 5000m world-record holder Gudaf Tsegay in a thrilling finish.
Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech, herself a world-record holder in the 3000m steeplechase, took bronze in a reflection of just how strong a field Muir had to contend with.
The 30-year-old insisted her first success was laying down the foundations of future Scottish athletes by appearing in Glasgow.
"It's lovely, it's a very privileged position to be in and that's why I wanted to come here and do my bit today," she said. "If I have inspired one kid today, then that's job done.
"I want to be seen, I want to be relatable and hopefully kids go to this track and say I'm running where Josh [Kerr] ran or Laura ran."
Muir received a rapturous applause from the Glaswegian crowd on her return to the city where she competed her veterinary degree alongside her training, but was ultimately unable to raise the decibel level any further with what would have been a third indoor medal.
The Olympic silver medallist arrived in Glasgow in fine fettle having clocked a British and European record of 9:04.84 in the two-mile in New York last month but was quickly left chasing the leading pack of St.Pierre, Tsegay, Chepkoech and Australia's Jessica Hull. But Muir was confident she is still in good shape to go one better in the summer and grab gold in Paris.
"It was fast, I tried to run my own race as best as I can but it was just so fast from the start. I think I ran the best that I could and that's all that I can ask for," she added. "3km is a weaker side in terms of my endurance and my speed so I just wanted to work on that during the indoor season and make that a lot stronger ahead of the summer and the Olympics.
"That field was really strong in both strength and depth, that was one of most competitive fields out there so it was going to be a hard race but I didn't want to shy away from that, I wanted to run hard and get a lot of out it and I think I did that.
"I know my endurance was the weaker side so that's why I entered the 3km to work on that. I am really fit, really healthy, and in a good place ahead of the summer for us to put on that extra bit of speed and intensity; I think it will be really exciting.
"It has never been so competitive, I am running against the best there has ever been. It is good to be competitive and fit and healthy ahead of the summer. Everybody is running so fast, it is great to be a part of it."
Muir was one half of a Scottish double bill on Saturday night alongside compatriot Josh Kerr, who won 3000m gold to the delight of the home crowd.
Muir believes her fellow Scot, who claimed outdoor 1500m gold last year at the World Championships, is all set up to do something special at this summer's Olympics, where he will go head-to-head with defending 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigsten.
"To be a back-to-back world champion ahead of the Olympics is very special but to do it on home soil, that's so unique and so special so I am so glad he was able to come here and race," she said.
"I was chuffed I was running before him so I could watch him."
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The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
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