Laura Muir still targeting Olympic medal after missing podium at World Championships

Laura Muir believes she can keep her place on the Olympic podium in Paris despite finishing sixth in the women’s 1500m at the World Championships.

Laura Muir with Women's 1500m winner Faith Kipyegon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The 30-year-old fell short of the rostrum as Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won her third world title over the distance. Despite this, Muir has successfully navigated a first coaching change in 12 years and is confident of building on her Tokyo silver medal next summer.

“The 1500 metres is crazier than ever at the moment but I feel like I’m still part of that,” said the Scot. “With sixth, I’m still in the mix. The Olympics is the big one and I want to get on that podium again and be a double Olympic medallist.”

Muir’s track record of peaking when it matters most saw her win medals at five successive major championships, a record that began with silver in Tokyo and ended in Budapest. She has negotiated a year of personal upheaval having moved from Glasgow to Loughborough and started again under new coach Steve Vernon.

“Things changed very suddenly this year and after 12 years, nothing’s the same,” said Muir, who is supported by UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme. “It’s been a lot to take in and it’s been very up and down. I’m in a really good place now and I’m excited for the future.”

There were three British athletes in the women’s 1500m final, more than any other nation with middle-distance giants Kenya and Ethiopia only qualifying two.

World record holder Kipyegon won gold in a brilliant 3:54.87, with bronze giving Sifan Hassan gaining a measure of retribution for her 10,000m fall and Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji taking silver.

Kipyegon’s bid to do the 1,500m and 5,000m double - a feat never before achieved by a woman at any Worlds or Olympics - continues with the 5,000m heats this evening. Earlier, Matt Hudson-Smith took down the 36-year-old European men’s 400m record with an astounding semi-final run.

The Wolverhampton star, who has had a stop-start season, clocked 44.33s to bring down German Thomas Schonlebe’s record.

Hudson-Smith will be aiming for no less than a medal in tomorrow's final, particularly after Olympic champion Steven Gardiner pulled up injured in his semi-final.

“I will be happy when I get that medal, as for (the record), that is just job done,” he said. “Coach told me to execute 300 and make sure the job was done, and then when I knew I was clear, I was saving something for the final, and I did that. I just need to get that medal now.”

Italian showman Gianmarco Tamberi, one half of the historic shared Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, won his maiden world title in the high jump.

Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim - with whom he shared gold in Japan - won bronze but the title was Tamberi's thanks to a 2.36m clearance, beating USA's JuVaughn Harrison on countback.

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