Laura Muir takes Zola Budd's record but plays second fiddle to 'amazing' Faith Kipyegon

Laura Muir finished fourth at the Herculis meeting in 4:15.24.

The 30-year-old Scot finished fourth at the Herculis meeting in 4:15.24 to slice two seconds off the previous mark set by Zola Budd 38 years ago, while Northern Ireland’s Ciara Mageean had the run of her life to come second in an Irish record of 4:14.58. But the duo were left for dead by Kipyegon as the double Olympic gold medallist slashed over five seconds off the all-time mark with a time of 4:07.64 to add to the 1500 and 5000m records she’s already captured in a glorious summer.

“Faith’s had three world record races and I was joking with her that I’ve been her world record lucky charm,” Muir said. “But she’s amazing. I thought she could run sub-4:10 but to run 4:07 is amazing. It just shows the amount of respect she has from all of us.”

After disappointingly losing her British title a fortnight ago, it was a timely return to top form for Muir with the world championships less than a month away – and the chance to better her bronze from Oregon in 2022. “I’m very happy with that,” she said. “I’d give it a nine out of ten. If I’d just run the time alone, it would have been ten out of ten. Obviously I’d like to have placed a little bit higher. But I came for a British record and I got it.”