Laura Muir’s aim may be to claim her first major outdoor championship medal in the coming week, but fourth place was more than sufficient to get her campaign underway in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The 24-year-old normally prefers to set the pace, but was happy to settle in towards the back of the pack in the early stages of the second heat of the 1500 metres before easing through the field to ensure there was no chance of being caught out and with six automatic qualifiers she knew she had done what was required as she eased across the line.

“I just wanted to get through and managed to do that, running on the inside for a lot of the way. So job done, I just wanted to get that top six,” she said afterwards.

The main benefit of the opening night for Muir was to get a feel for the stadium after a long build-up during which she has been billed as one of the best home medal hopes.

“It’s great to get started, it’s seemed a long time coming,” she said.

“A home games is just phenomenal, you can’t beat it. I’m really excited to be in the semi tomorrow.”