The stunning rise of Kinross-shire athlete Laura Muir will continue at the World Indoor Championships in Poland, where the middle-distance runner will be Britain’s best hope for a gold medal.
British Athletics yesterday named a 35-strong team for next month’s event in Poland, with world No 1-ranked Muir, her fellow Dundee Hawkhill Harrier Eilish McColgan and another Kinross-shire runner, Eilidh Child, in the squad.
Muir, 20, will run in the 800m but could also have been selected in the 1,500m, a distance her early season form has been equally as impressive in.
McColgan has been picked for the 3,000m in Sopot, while Child is in the 4x400m relay. Edinburgh’s Chris O’Hare (1,500m) and Jamie Bowie of Inverness (4×400) also made the cut for the March 7-9 competition.
Muir insisted she won’t get caught up in thinking too far ahead and the prospect of getting her first major medal.
She said: “I don’t really like to think of it that way. I like to take it round by round so at the moment my focus is on getting through the heats and dealing with the final when it comes.
“My focus is on getting a couple of good weeks of training in and getting my preparations for Poland right.
“I have got the world lead, but within a second there’s multiple people. But I do consider myself a good medal contender.
“I have improved so much at a quick rate, it is very hard to see where I am going with things. But I just want to go out there and enjoy the experience and just learn from it really for future years.”
The veterinary student admitted the No 1 tag is taking a bit of getting used to.
“It is very, very strange,” she said.
“I don’t think it is really hitting home yet.
“You see all these amazing athletes and you think, ‘actually I can run faster than them.’ It’s kind of scary almost. But it’s fantastic to know I’m up there with the best.
“People are almost intimidated by me now, which I find really scary. But I’m loving the position I’m in. I just love running really, whether I’m doing well at it or not, so I am very happy with where I am just now.
“I don’t really like to think of what other people think of me.I know what my plan is, go out and run my own race, and hope I come out on top.”
Some athletes progress through the ranks smashing records and hoovering up titles. But Muir wasn’t one of them.
She revealed: “Two or three years ago I would have been very lucky to medal even in a Scottish age group race, so I think my mentality has changed to take account of the fact that I will be competing, and hopefully winning, in these huge races. My running before was just a hobby really, and I enjoyed it for what it was.
“I never saw this coming at all. In my whole athletics career, I think I only won one Scottish age-group title, under-15. I never saw myself ever competing for GB, let alone at this level. So it is quite a shock, but I am delighted where things are going and just really excited about this year.”
Sprinter James Dasaolu is the only other Brit currently ranked No 1 in the world (in the 60 metres) after posting a personal best of 6.47 seconds in the semi-finals of the Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday.
However, he crossed the line clutching his left hamstring and a scan has shown a minor tear, which rules him out of the championships.
Also disappointed was multi-eventer Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who had hoped to be given an invitation by the IAAF for the pentathlon.
The 21-year-old has been in superb form but was forced out of her qualifying event at the weekend because of illness.
That left her relying on the one invitational spot, given at the discretion of the world governing body, but it was confirmed on Tuesday that she has missed out.
Johnson-Thompson will instead compete in the long jump, where she should be a medal hope having set a new best of 6.75m at the national indoor championships.
Pole vaulters Holly Bleasdale and Luke Cutts are both second in the world rankings. Asha Philip is also ranked two in the 60m and will be joined by 19-year-old Sophie Papps, who makes her senior debut.
In the absence of Dasaolu, former world indoor champion Dwain Chambers and Richard Kilty will compete in the 60m.