Seb Coe believes middle-distance runner Laura Muir can win Olympic gold in Tokyo next year, with the head of British Athletics labelling her “a phenomenon”.
Muir made history as the first person ever to win a ‘double-double’ of European indoor titles with two totally dominant performances in Glasgow last weekend, helping Britain secure a record haul of 12 medals.
With five European titles over the past two years, there is now no doubting the Scot's superiority at continental level, but she is yet to make a global outdoor podium having finished fifth and fourth at the last two World Championships and seventh at the Olympics.
Devastating bursts of speed at the climax of her 1500m and 3000m victories in Glasgow made light work of her rivals and suggested she has taken another step up in quality after completing her veterinary studies last year and concentrating full-time on her running career.
Asked if Muir is now capable of replicating his own feat of winning Olympic 1500m gold, Coe said: “Absolutely no question about it. She’s come on a bundle.
“The difference between the good and the great is the ability to move your feet – the ability to change pace, whether it’s breaking clear of defenders or running clear of a pack. That’s what she’s got.
The difference between European level of competition and that which Muir will face at the Doha World Championships later this year is vast, with Ethiopia’s 1500m world record holder Genzebe Dibaba and Kenyan Olympic and world champion Faith Kipyegon among the daunting adversaries.
Supporting Coe’s assertion that Muir is ready to challenge the world’s best, British Athletics performance director Neil Black said the diminutive Scot is on track to join the ranks of athletics greats alongside Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah.
“She clearly has the ability and she has demonstrated the performances that suggest a [Olympic] gold medal is possible,” said Black. “Medals are likely.
Muir won two of the hosts' four gold medals in Glasgow, with Katarina Johnson-Thompson (pentathlon) and Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (800m) also victorious as Britain achieved what Black called a “bloody amazing” record medal haul.
Victory for Johnson-Thompson was the third gold medal in her last four international competitions. She claimed silver – behind Olympic and world champion Nafi Thiam, who was absent injured from Glasgow – in the other.
Like Muir, Johnson-Thompson is yet to prove herself in a major global competition, but Coe says she can lead a new generation of British talent.
“She’s fantastic,” he said. “She really has got that X-factor. You could see the way people responded to her and it was lovely to see the following she has now. She’s got her head above the others, which is good.
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