A Diamond night in Rome

Friday 7th June 2019

It was a superb night in Rome last night for Scottish athletes, as Laura Muir and Andy Butchart both ran second best-ever times at a high quality Diamond League in the Stadio Olimpico.

After an early stumble, Muir powered through and put in a strong finish in the 1500m, but could not quite catch Dibaba in the closing straight. Nonetheless she crossed the line in 3:56.73, within reach of her own British record of 3:55.22.

She told Stuart Weir of Athletics Weekly: “I’m really happy. To run 3:56, it’s my second-fastest time ever, my fastest time in three years, so really pleased with that. Got a bit of a scrappy start but I just kept my cool. I almost had it at the end but not quite…. Really pleased with it, to be running that sort of time at this time of the season.”

“To run 3:56, it’s my second-fastest time ever, my fastest time in three years, so really pleased with that. Got a bit of a scrappy start but I just kept my cool. I almost had it at the end but not quite…” @lauramuiruns after @goldengala_roma 1500m.
➡️ https://t.co/OjRTYgEuyS pic.twitter.com/ehdrFYecZ9

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 6, 2019

Eilish McColgan, running in the 1500m with Muir, notched up a tremendous 4:02.29 finish for sixth place.

Butchart took a 13:09.33 finish in the 5000m, just shy of his own Scottish record of 13:08.61, set in Rio at the 2016 Olympics. It brought him an eighth place finish – a reflection of the quality of the field, in a race that saw six athletes going sub-13.

Tags: Andrew Butchart, Andy Butchart, Diamond League, Eilish McColgan, Laura Muir