by Larry Eder
A mixed bag for GB athletes
Laura Muir was delighted with her fourth place finish in the 1500 in 3:57.63, in a race won by Nikki Hiltz (3:55.94). In a season ruined by injury this was incredibly Laura’s first sub 4 run since last year’s Olympic final. She started cautiously, not going with the pace but finished really fast. She told me: “I am really, really happy. I was just very conscious not going off too hard as I’ve not had a race like that since the Olympic final. I’ve been away from the competition at this level for a year. Tonight I had people fall in front of me. I had to chop my stride a couple of times but managed to stay on my feet. So I think in a clean race, I maybe could have run a 3:55 or 3:56. And running that time you’re not too far from the medals”.
The men’s 1500 had two British runners, Jake Wightman (2022 World Champion) and Neil Gourley (2025 World Indoor medalist). Niels Laros won the race in 3:30.58 with Wightman ninth in 3:32.95 and Gourley tenth in 3:33.21. Both expressed disappointment about their performance. Wightman said: “It was frustrating. I never got in a good spot. I was too far back on the first couple of laps. It’s hard because the guys at the front don’t really make any mistakes.”. Wightman was world champion in 2022 but missed the entire 2023 season with injury. Last year he was selected for Paris but got injured in the last rep of the last training session before Paris and missed the games. Gourley said: “I am frustrated with it! I wasn’t good enough. The best thing I can say about it is that it really didn’t feel that bad. I hung back maybe a bit too much but even when I went to close, there wasn’t much there anyway. I was against guys that I’ll need to beat in the world champs and I didn’t today. That was like what a first round will be like in Tokyo and I just wasn’t there. I’ve got a lot to work on in the next few weeks”.
Darryl Neita had the satisfaction of beating Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce but her 11.15 left her a long way behind Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Honest as always, Darryl expressed her frustration with her race: “Not great. I think I let myself down in the acceleration at the start but I managed to climb through to the end”.
A year ago Charlie Dobson was the surprise winner of the Diamond League final 400m. A year later, back in Brussels, he had to be satisfied with third in 44.81 with Jacory Patterson (USA) winning in 44.05. His enigmatic summary to me was “It wasn’t the best and it wasn’t the worst. I will take third place”.
Molly Caudery was second in the pole vault with 4.80. She told me: “I’m really pleased with another 4:80 jump. I think my consistency is there. Unfortunately I had three run throughs where I didn’t take off at 4:85 which is quite frustrating but it’s just really small changes and I think everything could come together – which is exciting. And I think timing wise, that’s great. It’s been a bit of a rocky season. I’ve had a few ups and downs. So to be coming into form now is good. I think last year I learned so much, I kind of came onto the scene quite fast and every competition I’ve done since has been an experience. Going into worlds, I’ve got a different kind of perspective from what I did going into the 2024 Olympics”.
Innes FitzGerald was 15th in the women’s 5000m in 14:48.84. She was competitive but fell away towards the end. No criticism from me as it has been an amazing year for Innes who celebrated her 19th birthday in April and who won two gold medals in the European U20s – as well as adjusting to her first year in University. She is likely to be selected for Tokyo.
The GB team finished fourth in the mixed 4 by 100 relay but were then DQed. It was a very young team and I doubt of any of them had ever run a mixed sprint relay before.
In other races, Vikki Ohuruogu was fourth in a 400m in 51.82 and Ethan Hussey eight in an 800 in 1:45.92. In the discus Lawrence Okoye recorded 5 fouls.
