THERE was an emotional homecoming at Glasgow Airport last night when Laura Muir was re-united with her parents Alison and Crawford as she returned to Scotland with two World Championship medals in her possession. You will have read no doubt by now plenty about the 24-year-old’s nine-hour taxi journey through the snowy conditions on Wednesday evening to get to the Arena Birmingham, the site of her famous 3,000m bronze medal and 1,500m silver, but less is known about the fact her mum and dad, Granny and great Aunt were unable to join her.
Having just about managed to get enough supplies in to keep them going for the weekend, all four watched the events from the family home in Milnathort after a series of cancelled flights on Thursday morning caused a last-minute re-think in their plans to fly down to the venue.
“It was completely unexpected. I didn’t expect them to be here,” said a tearful Muir. “You think Birmingham would be an easy one to get to but it didn’t really turn out that way! The four of them were all due to go down so at least they were all together. Like everyone else they managed to stay indoors.”
“She didn’t get any flowers on the podium so I thought I would bring some myself,” said her mum Alison, who came straight from dropping her two elderly relatives back up in Dundee. “I am so proud of what she has achieved, it is all down to hard work and the sacrifices she has made. She never even has puddings, we all feel bad when she is over for dinner and we are all having them!”
Muir is the first Scot to win two medals at the same World Championship event, indoors or outdoors, in the history of track and field in Scotland. And all at the age of 24. Further adventures await but her first priority is returning to her veterinary training. After a return journey by aeroplane which was far more comfortable than her outward journey, it is back to work on her final year duties this morning. Her coach Andy Young will give her the week off, but in general terms she will continue running six times a week along with her studies.
While the canny stewardship of Young has helped bring Muir on leaps and bounds, she too paid tribute to the sacrifices made by her parents. “I guess I progressed more when I was at Uni and a bit more independent, but even that all stemmed from my parents taking me to athletics clubs between the ages of about 11 and 18,” she said. “They would take me training three times a week, maybe stay in the car and do a little bit of work. There would be competition every other weekend and be out stand out in the rain at cross country, in fields with the wellies on and making sandwiches. They were always very supportive.
“You know when I was younger, I wasn’t winning races," she added. "I was coming last and things like that, but they were always very supportive no matter what. I never really thought back then that I was going to make a profession out of this, that I was going to be champion. I just did the sport because I enjoyed it. It is nice now to have the results which go along with the enjoyment and nice to let them enjoy performances like this weekend.”
Given this self-imposed ‘pudding ban’ - Muir only had the small chocolate mint in her hotel room on Thursday evening – she celebrated in style after her 1500m win on Saturday – with copious amounts of cake. “I had quite a lot of cake,” she said. “The hotel cake was really nice so I did have a couple of bits of cake. At Christmas time I have a bit of a treat but pretty much at any point running up to competition during the summer, I try to have a very strict diet."
Medal or no medal, she will be equally strict about running six days a week even when last-minute cramming for those final exams takes hold. "It can be stressful sometimes taking time off from uni to concentrate on my training but at the same time it makes you more productive and clears your mind," she said. "I will do full training right up to my finals but I am back in at 9am tomorrow."
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