Laura Muir destroyed her 1,500m British rivals with an attention-grabbing display of front running that will make the world sit up and take notice that this diminutive Scot is surely the real deal.
It seems hard to believe how much the 22-year-old Dundee Hawkhill Harrier has matured since her 11th place at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Muir’s storming 4:00.39 second victory at the Bislett Games in Oslo, which erased Yvonne Murray from the Scottish record books after 27 years, ranks her fourth in the world this year.
And the manner of that performance, and yesterday’s victory in 4:10.37 at the Sainsbury’s British Championships, means the Milnathort star heads to next month’s World Championships in Beijing with some heavy expectation on her slender shoulders.
“I’m absolutely over the moon and I’m glad I pulled it off,” she said when asked about her bold tactics in Birmingham.
“I went into that race saying I was going to win it and it was just a case of how I was going to win it.
“It takes a lot of confidence to be able to do that and it shows the form I’m in. I knew I could just go for it and trust my ability.
“I just want to get to the final in Beijing. I’ve not made a final at that level before and not experienced it so once I achieve that, I can relax and enjoy the race.
“I think the problem was that I was running so fast so early and people expected so much and that was inexperience but now the experience is catching up and I really believe in myself and I’m focused.”
Scottish cross-country champion Madeleine Murray (EAC) finished 10th in 4:22.83.
If you wanted to see the legacy of last summer in action then a few hours in Birmingham yesterday would have done the trick.
It was certainly a case of job done for the three golden girls of Scottish athletics as Eilidh Child confidently retained the 400m hurdles to add to Lynsey Sharp’s 800m victory, the latter achieved in a time of 2:02.40.
“I would love to go to Beijing and compete,” said Pitreavie’s Child, speaking at the event, a partnership with British Athletics that builds on Sainsbury’s support for the 2012 Paralympics.
“I came away from Moscow (World Championships 2013) and even though I was fifth I felt like I could have done better than that.
“If I can compete and step off the track knowing I have given everything I will be happy, I just don’t want to come away thinking I could have done more.
“I’ve been training quite hard recently so I’m going to go away and have a couple of days off and then I will do the Anniversary Games before Beijing.”
A Scottish one-two came in the 5,000m where Stephanie Twell (Aldershot Farnham and Dist) edged out Commonwealth colleague Laura Whittle (Sutton Coldfield) with 15 minutes 38.01 seconds.
Scottish Commonwealth Games athlete Lennie Waite (Aldershot FD) scored a runaway victory in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase in 10:15.04, 14 seconds clear of the opposition.
Lasswade’s Guy Learmonth just missed out on a podium place in the 800m final by two-tenths of a second, placing fourth in 1:50.61 seconds.
Chijindu Ujah (Enfield) booked his ticket for Beijing clocking 10.10 seconds with European champion James Dasaolu (Croydon) also assured of his place in the GB team timed at 10.24.
Sainsbury’s is a proud partner of British Athletics. The partnership reflects Sainsbury’s wider commitment to inspiring healthy lifestyles for all, and complements grassroots campaigns such as Active Kids and the Sainsbury’s School Games. www.sainsburys.co.uk.