Laura Muir passes Commonwealth test with 1500m gold

Laura Muir passes Commonwealth test with 1500m gold
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Laura Muir missed the last Commonwealth Games to take her veterinary exams and she’s certainly passed this test in Birmingham with flying colours too.

The world and Olympic medallist added 1500m gold to her 800m bronze, while England claimed two relay golds on the final day of the athletics programme.

It’s fair to say Muir’s relationship with these Games has not been an easy one. Eight years ago, she arrived in Glasgow as her sport’s rising star, only to get tripped in the final when shaping for a medal bid. She watched the Gold Coast on her phone in her surgical scrubs but now, finally, she’s got the gold she craved.

“For eight years the Commonwealth Games has been bugging me," she said.

“There is still no more heart-breaking race in my career than what happened that night in Glasgow, I couldn’t feel like that again.

“This is the one that meant the most to me, this was the medal that I really wanted and set out at the start of this year to get.

“I know I’ll never get back that chance I had in Glasgow, to win in front of Scottish crowds, but this is not far behind it.”

This summer, Team Scotland, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, compromises of over 250 athletes, all vying for medal success.

The Alexander Stadium, once unloved and tatty, has been the breakout star of these Games - and another sell-out crowd roared home England’s 4x400m women’s team.

Victoria Ohuruogu and Jodie Williams laid the foundations, Ama Pipi ran a stormer and Jessie Knight hung on for dear life to secure a photo finish win over Jamaica by one hundredth of a second.

With some notable exceptions, too often the story of sprint relays was more about the spills than the thrills but as England's 4x100m quartet scampered to gold, surely that trend has turned.

They held their nerve to defend their title from four years ago in the Gold Coast, less than two weeks after three of the team won bronze for Great Britain at the World Championships in Oregon.

Ojie Edoburun - replacing the injured Reece Prescod - anchored home the quartet that also included world medallists Jona Efoloko, Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, the latter two part of last year’s Olympic team that won silver only to lose it when team-mate CJ Ujah tested positive for drugs.

"This is something we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives," said Edoburun.

"I’m just so happy to come in and fit in right away with the boys, they’ve been killing it these last few years. To have the responsibility of bringing them home, words can’t describe it."

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