Tokyo Olympics: Britain's Laura Muir wins silver in 1500m behind Kenya's Faith Kipyegon
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Tokyo Olympics: 'The best race of her career' - GB's Laura Muir wins silver in 1500m final
Tokyo Olympic Games on the BBC |
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Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8 |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app. |
Laura Muir claimed a superb silver medal as she shattered the British record to finish behind Kenyan defending champion Faith Kipyegon in the 1500m Olympic final in Tokyo.
The 28-year-old Scot, who has come close in a succession of world and Olympic finals without making the podium, hit the bell on the shoulder of Kipyegon and world champion Sifan Hassan.
The fast pace proved perfect for Muir as she gritted her teeth down the back straight to overtake a tiring Hassan and, with Kipyegon well clear, finish a comfortable second.
Her time of three minutes 54.50 seconds is an improvement on Muir's own 2016 British record of 3:55.22.
The culmination of a near-decade-long quest for a major medal hit Muir after the finish line as she slumped to the track.
"I've worked so hard for so long," she told BBC Sport.
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"I've been fourth, fifth twice, sixth and seventh every year since 2015 and with everything last year being postponed and not knowing what was going on... I got a silver!
"That last 100 metres I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life that someone was going to come past me and I would drop to fourth. I just tried my absolute hardest in that last stretch."
Muir came to Tokyo as the fastest Briton in the world this year over 800m. However she opted not to double up, instead focusing her efforts on the 1500m and capturing a major medal.
Her path to the podium had been cleared by the absence of some significant rivals. Ethiopian world bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay is running 5,000m instead, world record holder Genzebe Dibaba is absent while American Shelby Houlihan is banned for a positive drugs test.
However Muir's relentless pace would have tested all of them to their limits as she surged for the line behind Kipyegon.
Muir collapsed to the track after crossing the finish line
Hassan's bronze medal marks the end of an attempt at an extraordinary, unprecedented distance treble, which also features the 5,000m, in which she has secured gold, and the 10,000m, the final of which is on Saturday.
Hassan admitted earlier this week that she thought it was "crazy" to attempt a hat-trick to rival Emil Zatopek, who collected titles in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon for the then Czechoslovakia at the 1952 Games in Helsinki.
The Dutchwoman never looked likely to avenge a pre-Games 1500m defeat by Kipyegon in Monaco as the toll of a campaign that will see her cover more than 15 miles in eight days showed.
Kipyegon, 27, becomes only the third athlete to retain an Olympic 1500m title following Muir's compatriot Sebastian Coe (1980 and 1984) and the Soviet Union's Tatyana Kazankina (1976 and 1980).
Miller-Uibo backs up Rio success
Tokyo Olympics: Shaunae Miller-Uibo dominates women's 400m final
Shaunae Miller-Uibo dispelled the doubts surrounding her 400m title defence as she repeated her Rio success with an emphatic victory.
The 27-year-old had finished down in eighth in the 200m final and appeared to be carrying an injury in the semi-finals over the longer distance.
She emerged into the stadium sporting neon pink strapping on her right knee, co-ordinating with her distinctive hair.
But the Bahamas athlete produced an imperious performance, leading off the final bend and never fading.
Her Rio title came with a last-ditch dive over the line - there was no need this time around as she strode to a personal best of 48.36.
The Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino was second with 35-year-old American legend Allyson Felix winning her 10th Olympic medal from her 12th Olympic final in third.
Great Britain's Jodie Williams, who ran a personal best 49.97 in the semi-finals, matched that time for sixth.
Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei backed up his 10,000m silver with 5,000m gold as he took the title held by Great Britain's Mo Farah.
The 24-year-old, who set a new world record over the distance last season but has looked less convincing this, turned up the heat with a lap to go and none of the field could reel him in. He stopped the clock at 12:58.15.
Canada's Mohammed Ahmed, who won bronze at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, took silver with the United States' Paul Chelimo, second behind Farah in Rio, in third.
Great Britain's Andrew Butchart finished 11th in 13:09.97.
Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the fastest man in the world this year, has opted to focus on the 1500m, in which he will compete in Saturday's final.
China's Liu Shiying beat Poland's Maria Andrejczyk and Australia's Kelsey-Lee Barber, the world leader and world champion respectively, to gold in the javelin.
Liu scored with only two of her six throws but an opening-round 66.34m - more than five metres short of the mark Andrejczyk threw in May - was never beaten.
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