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Laura Muir is seeking a place in history by winning a fifth gold at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul this weekend… and the 1500m star can finally show off her medal collection thanks to a gift from Secret Santa!
- Laura Muir won her 1500m heat in Istanbul to reach the European indoor final
- Scotsman hopes to break British Championship gold record
- It’s one of six goals Muir has set for himself in 2023 before the Olympics.
Laura Muir may be one of Britain’s most decorated athletes, but she’s just found a way to put her awards on display.
“It’s funny because for Christmas my friends gave me a Secret Santa medalist,” smiles the Scotsman, who has Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth gongs in her ever-growing collection. ‘It’s really nice to look at them. I look forward to putting that stand to more use this week.’
If she adds another medal to her holder with victory in the 1500m here in Istanbul, Muir will become the first Brit to claim five golds at the European Indoor Championships, beating Colin Jackson and Jason Gardner, with whom she is currently tied for four. .
“To get the best gold medal tally by a British athlete at these championships, that would be great,” admits the 29-year-old, who reached the final on Saturday night by winning her heat here on Friday morning.
‘It’s been 10 years since I first raced in these championships. This is my fifth and there have been many ups and downs.
Laura Muir wants to break the British record for gold medals in the Indoor European Championships
The Scotsman won her 1500m heat on Friday morning to earn a place in Saturday’s final in Istanbul.
‘In 2013, I just made the team and came last in the final. So to go from being last in 2013 to having all these medals 10 years later is crazy. It’s not a bad job.
While several British stars have never bothered to enter the European Indoors, Muir has always held the event in high regard.
He won the 1500m and 3000m double in both 2017 and 2019. And he credits the championships for reigniting his career after the disappointment of his seventh-place finish at Rio 2016.
“I know they are not world medals, but they are more personal,” he says. ‘2017 was a really significant championship for me. I was really disappointed with my performance in Rio.
So to go back and really make that statement, it meant a lot to get those first medals on a senior stage.
‘I am very suitable for interiors. It’s something I enjoy and it’s a good reference point to see where you are coming out of winter.
‘Winter would be very long if you had to go from September to May without any interruption. It’s nice to have that competitive environment. Winning medals and competing, that’s the fun.’
Muir has set himself six goals for 2023, including retaining his European Indoors title this month.
Retaining her European Indoors title is just one of six goals Muir set for herself earlier this year. Another was winning the prestigious Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in New York, which he did last month.
He also wants to break the 1500m indoor world record, something he tried and failed to do in Birmingham last weekend.
Muir’s three outdoor goals are to break Zola Budd’s 38-year-old British mile record, set a new personal best of 5000m and win another medal at the World Championships in Budapest.
“I definitely like having things I want to accomplish and I’m a ‘cross off the list’ type of person,” she adds. ‘I’m not at the stage where I’ve won it all, so it’s still easy to keep adding things to the list and trying to get them.
‘I’m certainly in a very good place. The main focus is next year’s Olympic Games and this year’s World Championships. But we want to win a medal here to get back to training and perform well later in the year.’