Laura Muir agonisingly misses out on World Championships medal in fast 1500m final

Laura Muir finished fifth in what proved to be an incredibly quick 1500m final with Sifan Hassan taking gold.

Muir entered the 1500m final not being 100 per cent fit having missed a bunch of training due to a number of injuries and stomach problems.

Still, she was one of the favourites to claim a medal along with Sifan Hassan and Faith Kipyegon.

And it became abundantly clear early on in the race that it was going to be a a quick time that won it with Hassan taking the pace.

Muir had to battle through the pack to get herself in position to contend for a medal spot.

Hassan quickly shot out of sight from everyone, but Muir had positioned herself in the silver medal place with 200m left.

However, the Inverness-born runner could be seen gritting her teeth as she began to slow with Kipyegon, Gudaf Tsegay and Shelby Houlihan all racing past before the finish line.

Hassan clocked over the line in a remarkable championship record of 3:51.95 – the sixth fastest time of all-time in the 1500m.

But Muir was also able to finish in an equally quick time of 3:55.76, just half a second off her personal best.

To put that into perspective, Muir would have won gold with that time in the every previous world championships.

And the British athletics star was happy with her overall performance, even if she was surprised at not getting a medal with that time.

“I don’t know what to say, I finished fifth with 3.55,” she said.

“But to run 3.55 when I missed so much training, I am speechless but I am so, so proud of myself.

“I am so happy to run 3.55 and no way in the world I would have thought I’d finish fifth.”

source: express.co.uk