Laura Muir to run at Gateshead Diamond League meeting as part of Olympic preparations

British 1500m record-holder Laura Muir will continue her preparations for the Tokyo Olympics at the Muller Grand Prix Gateshead later this month.

Laura Muir will continue her preparations for the Tokyo Olympics at the Muller Grand Prix in Gateshead later this month. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

The 28-year-old Scot, the reigning European champion over the distance, will be racing on UK soil for the first time in 15 months when she takes to the track at the Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday, May 23.

Muir holds the British record in the event at 3:55.22, but is hoping to break her duck at the north-east venue at the first meeting in the 2021 Wanda Diamond League series.

She said: "I am training and racing in the United States right now, but the Muller Grand Prix Gateshead will be my first competition in the UK when I return home later this month.

“Diamond League events are always exciting and it is extra special for me when the event is on British soil.

“I have won road mile races at the CityGames in the north-east of England a few times over the years. But the last time I actually raced at Gateshead International Stadium was in the National Junior League as a teenager! I didn't win those races either so hopefully this month I can try to win my first-ever track race at the venue.”

Muir is in promising form heading into the event having won over 1500m in 4:01.54 in Eugene, Oregon last month and finished second behind training partner Jemma Reekie in the 800m at the Continental Tour Gold in California on Sunday, narrowly missing her PB with 1:58.46.

The Diamond League opener was initially scheduled to take place in Rabat, but has been moved to Gateshead - which has not staged an international Grand Prix event since 2010 - as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.