When is Laura Muir racing in Istanbul? What channel are European Indoor Championships on? Scot eyeing another gold medal

The European Indoor Championships will feature heavily when Laura Muir’s biography is written one day, with a greater stature accorded than one might expect for what is the fifth-ranked among athletics major quintet of majors from this continent.
Laura Muir has high medal hopes in Istanbul this week.Laura Muir has high medal hopes in Istanbul this week.
Laura Muir has high medal hopes in Istanbul this week.

An Olympic, world outdoor and indoor medallist and multiple European outdoor champion, the 29-year-old will begin the pursuit of her fifth gold from this showpiece in Istanbul on Friday morning when the first round begins. She is clear favourite to reacquire the 1500m title she lasted earned in Glasgow in 2019. The only contender with a personal best below four minutes, only her British team-mate Katie Snowden, has come within three seconds of the Scot’s quickest time this season.Gothenburg’s Euros, precisely a decade ago on Thursday, was the scene of Muir’s debut in a championship final. Belgrade in 2017 brought a maiden medal – a double, in fact – in the 1500m and 3000m. That entry into the winning zone opened the door to loftier prizes beyond. This is why these medals are treasured possessions at her Glasgow home.

Laura Muir’s gold medal hopes

“Maybe they're not the global medals, but I think they're probably one of the more personal ones,” Muir said. “Because that was the first one. 2017 was where I did the double gold. And that was a really, really significant championships for me, because I ran really well in 2016 but I was really disappointed with my performance from the Rio Olympics.“To come back and to really make that statement, to be like, ‘ok, I can win championship medals.’ And I can also win two, and both made from gold. It meant a lot to get those first medals, on a senior stage, from a personal point of view. Even though it doesn't necessarily mean anything on the world stage, it did mean a lot at that point.”Muir has been transformed from the shy veterinary student who flew under even her own radar before emerging among a new wave that followed the 2012 Olympics in London. The world indoors of 2014 in Sopot offered perhaps the most crushing but valuable of lessons. Primed for a medal for the first time, she required consolation and a wipe of the tears following an exit from the heats.Now she appears comfortable with her stature and confident in her ambitions. Ten years at the top has instilled an ability to deal with any obstacle in her path. “It's easier mentally, because I've been there now, I've been through everything,” she underlined. “And it's easier in that sense.”But the challenges still come thick and fast. Muir is not sneaking up from behind. She is there to be shot at. “I'm getting faster,” she declared. “And yet, you're still staying at the same spot because everybody else is getting faster. And then people are coming in and people are dropping out. There's very few of us who have actually been there for that whole length of time.”

Muir shows off her 1500m gold medal back in 2017 from Belgrade.Muir shows off her 1500m gold medal back in 2017 from Belgrade.
Muir shows off her 1500m gold medal back in 2017 from Belgrade.

When is the 1500m European Championships final and what channel is it on?

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Muir likes to race. Whether indoors or the odd cross-country, it breaks up some of the monotony of winter training, the necessary evil from which good things come. She will expect to be involved in Saturday night’s final, with the championships being broadcast live on the BBC.

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