Laura Muir Battles Hellen Obiri Over Mile! Live from London

One of the highlights of the Muller Anniversary Games was Laura Muir’s attempt at the World Record Mile. It had been attempted on July 6 in Lausanne by Genzebe Dibaba and she had run 4:16.05. The record, from August 14, 1996, is by Svetlana Masterkova, who ran 4:12.56 after winning both the 800m and 1,500m in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Laura Muir, photo by PhotoRun.net

Laura Muir followed Jenny Meadows, with Hellen Obiri right behind. They split 62.34 with Jenny Meadows leading at 400 meters and 2:07.27 at 800 meters, with Jenny Meadows leading through 900 meters. Laura Muir took the lead, with Hellen Obiri in hot pursuit.

Hellen Obiri, photo by PhotoRun.net

Hellen Obiri, 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist, has run some brilliant races this year, with her 14:22.47 on May 13, then, a 4:00.46 1,500m on May 27 and a 14:18.37 for 5000 meters in Rome on June 6. Hellen Obiri is building for London 2017.

HELLEN OBIRI 🇰🇪 TAKES LONDON DL WOMEN’S MILE, MUIR 🇬🇧 2ND, SIMPSON 🇺🇸 RUNS U.S. #2 ALL-TIME – RESULTS 1 4:16.56 MR,NR OBIRI, Hellen 🇰🇪 2 4:18.03 PB MUIR, Laura 🇬🇧 3 4:19.55 PB CHEBET, Winny 🇰🇪 2* 4 4:19.58 NR CICHOCKA, Angelika 🇵🇱 3* 5 4:19.98 PB SIMPSON, Jenny 🇺🇸 6 4:20.88 PB WEIGHTMAN, Laura 🇬🇧 7 4:22.40 NR MAGEEAN, Ciara 🇮🇪 8 4:23.15 PB COURTNEY, Melissa 🇬🇧 9 4:23.96 PB HALL, Linden 🇦🇺 10 4:24.01 PB GRACE, Kate 🇺🇸 11 4:24.68 PB GARCIA, Stephanie 🇺🇸 12 4:25.39 PB TWELL, Stephanie 🇬🇧 13 4:25.89 PB SNOWDEN, Katie 🇬🇧 14 4:28.59 PB JUDD, Jessica 🇬🇧 15 4:35.54 – – EMBAYE, Axumawit 🇪🇹 – * position in Diamond Race series rankings (top 5) – RACE STATS • First 14 finishers ran their personal best times • Obiri is exactly 4 seconds away from the WR (400m splits) @hellenobiri -> 62.8-65.0-64.7-62.5 @trackjenny -> 64.1-64.9-65.1-64.4 @fastkate -> 63.4-64.7-66.1-68.3 @steph_steeples -> 63.8-65.0-66.5-67.8 – QUOTES “The race went as I hoped. I was strong. I was very confident going into the race. Laura was very strong but I went with her and tried to stay as close as I could. I knew I had a good finish. It was important to come and do well in a DIamond League meeting. The track and the crowd are fantastic” -OBIRI – #londondl #mulleranniversarygames #diamondleague #roadtolondon #london2017 #dyestat #milesplit #letsrun #flotrack #usatf #worlderunners #worldrunners #goat #nikeplus #justdoit #nikerunning #tracknation #trackandfield #track #raceday #runnershigh #runnerslife #runnerspace #tracklife #trackday #runner #run #runners #running

A post shared by T&F Daily 💯 | #Tokyo2020 💎 (@the_running_statistician) on Jul 10, 2017 at 9:26am PDT

Laura Muir was coming off a precautionary two week break due to a stress reaction (this is per her coach). Many media organizations noted that her World Champs might be in doubt. That was not correct. On July 6, Laura Muir ran a fine PB over 800 meters in the deepest 800 meters of the year, with her PB 1:58.69 in fifth place.

But the mile was hard, and perhaps a bit too fast early on. In the final lap, Laura Muir pushed, with Hellen Obiri inspired and Hellen went by in the last stretch, with Hellen Obiri running 4:16.56, MR and NR, with Laura Muir in second in 4:18.03.

The former meet record goes back to Mary Slaney, US star of the 1970s and 80s, who ran 4:19.56 at the London meeting on 2 August 1985 (on 24 August, Mary Slaney ran 4:16.71 in Zurich).

The mile was deep, with Winny Chebet (Kenya) in third in 4:19.55, Angelika Cichoka, (Poland), in 4:19.58 NR, and Jenny Simpson (USA), 4:19.98 PB and Laura Weightman (GBR), 4:20.05 PB. The mile was a huge PB fest!

Here is my attempt at Live coverage of the fine mile event!