Great Britain’s Laura Muir reclaims European 1500m title in style

Laura Muir capped a summer of major championships medals by defending her European 1500m title in Munich.

After a steady opening to the race, Briton Muir bolted off the front of the pack with 425m to go, with only Ireland’s Ciara Mageean able to follow.

Mageean hung tough in Muir’s slipstream until the final bend, before running out of gas and settling for silver.

Muir’s continental win adds to Olympic silver, world bronze and Commonwealth gold over the past 12 months.

Mageean, who also took second in Muir’s wake at Birmingham 2022, finished in a season’s best four minutes 02.56 seconds, just less than a second and a half off the winner.

Muir’s team-mate Katie Snowden took fourth, with compatriot Ellie Baker in eighth. Poland’s Sofia Ennaoui, who finished fifth at the recent World Championships, took bronze after being caught out of position when Muir and Mageean kicked for home.

Just as in her win in Berlin four years ago, the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan was missing from the field, which made Muir’s task easier.

But there is little doubt that Muir is now a better athlete – both in numbers and neckwear.

Six of her seven fastest times over 1500m have come since her last European title, while a sudden glut of major medals, after a series of big-event disappointments, have confirmed her as a contender in any company.

Muir’s confidence was clear as she lurked at the back of the pack on the opening lap, before moving up, taking control and blowing the field apart.

As Muir rounded for home and gritted her teeth with Mageean still in striking distance, it briefly looked as if she may have misjudged her move.

But her reserves of stamina and determination proved more than deep enough to bail her out as she won in some comfort.

The Scot flopped to the track over the line and lay hand in hand with Mageean as both recovered from another draining duel.

Earlier Britain’s 1500m world champion Jake Wightman admitted he was “lucky” to come through his 800m semi-final after getting boxed in.

Wightman worked himself free of trouble to come home second in an automatic qualifying spot.

“I actually ran that very poorly,” he told BBC Sport.

“I thought with 300m to go I had screwed it up because I was in such a bad position, but the confidence I can take from it is I must be fit enough to come back from that position which was not where I wanted to be at the bell.”

Team-mate Ben Pattison will join him in Sunday’s final, but Daniel Rowden failed to qualify after being run out of a sprint finish in a slower first semi-final.