Laura breaks British mile record in marvellous Monaco

Friday 21st July 2023

It was a race for the ages in Monaco on Friday evening, as Laura Muir smashed Zola Budd’s 1985 British mile record, Faith Kipyegon knocked nearly 5 seconds off the World record, and every single finisher notched up either a national record or PB.

Laura finished in 4:15.24 at the Diamond League meet, felling Budd’s 38-year-old mark of 4:17.57, and crossing the line in 4th place. The run does, of course, also set a new Scottish record, beating Laura’s own previous record of 4:18.03, set in London six years ago.

Kipyegon’s finish of 4:07.65 moved significantly ahead of Sifan Hassan’s previous World record time of 4:12.33 from 2019.

Speaking to Stuart Weir in Monaco after the race, Laura said: “Monaco always delivers, and I just felt really positive going into the race that I was going to run well, and I’m just so happy. To run 4:15 and to break Zola Budd’s British record from 1985, I think it’s one of the oldest British records out there, so I’m very happy.

“I knew I had to go off a little bit more conservative at the start of the race, so that was on purpose I left that gap, but I just ended up leading the rest of the pack – but it was fine, I was ready for that. So to run that time, doing more or less all the work myself, I was really happy with that. To break a British record in my last race before Worlds is a good place [to be].”

With no women’s 1500m in Sunday’s Diamond League meet in London, she won’t be back on the track there, but she won’t be staying away: “I’m going to go and watch because I love the sport – second best thing is spectating for me!”

– With many thanks to Stuart Weir

Tags: British Record, Laura Muir, mile, Scottish record