Laura hails Faith WR after own 3:57 opener – and wins for Jemma, Josh

Sunday 4th June 2023

Photo by Bobby Gavin

Laura Muir led the plaudits for Faith Kipyegon’s World Record run in Florence in Friday.

The Scot finished a distant second behind of the greatest performances in the history of female middle-distance running as the Kenyan clocked 3:49.11 in the Diamond League meet in Italy.

But Laura took comfort from her own run and a 3:57 season opener that saw her try and stay with Kipyegon for as long as seemed possible.

‘I feel I am in good shape but I’m not in 3:49 shape,’ smiled Laura.

‘I wanted to go with it (Kipyegon’s early pace) but I can say now that sticking with the World Record holder is going to be pretty tough!

‘I am so happy for Faith because she deserves that in her career. When you go through the first 800m so quickly it is always going to hurt. You are not going to be as strong finishing as you might be in a different type of race.

‘I could have gone slower initially and finished stronger but I wanted to try and have a go. I think there a good couple of seconds there for and 3:57 is not bad at all in the opening night of the season.’

The 29-year-old from Kenya beat Genzebe Dibaba’s eight-year-old mark of 3:50.07 on a cool and still evening in the Luigi Ridolfi Stadium in Italian city.

It means Kipyegon is the first woman to break the 3:50 barrier and, after winning two Olympic and two world titles in recent years, she can now lay claim to being called the greatest female 1500m runner in history.

Laura now heads for a Diamond League date in Paris next week – where she will this time race over 5000m.

+++

And there was good news from Poland as Jemma Reekie celebrated an 800m victory once again.

Jemma clocked 1:58.94 to continue very solid start to the season over the past couple of weeks.

It’s understood Jemma is now being coached by Jon Bigg.

Also over 800m, there was a win for Josh Kerr at the Portland Track Meet in America. Josh clocked 1:46.62.

+++

Photo by Bobby Gavin

Logan Rees has moved up the Scottish all-time rankings for 10,000m on the track.

The Fife AC athelete, who came home in February to win the Lindsays National XC title at Falkirk, clocked 28:14.08 and is now eighth on the all-time list (with only four men having run sub 28 minutes).

Logan pictured here with Scottish Athletics President (and coach) Ron Morrison.

+++

Tags: Faith Kipyegon, Italy, Laura Muir