Born in Inverness in 1993, Laura Muir was raised in the small town of Milnathort where she was educated at Kinross High School, beofre sudying veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow.
She originally competed in cross country runnning and was part of the victorious Great Britain junior team at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships.
Her success at middle-distance running began at the Moscow 2013 World Championships where she reached the semi-finals.
Since then she has seen most success in the 1500 metres, first breaking the British record in 2016 and holding the current record set in 2021. It puts her in the list of the world’s all-time top fastest runners at the distance.
Her trophy cabinet holds a 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games 1500m silver medal, a 2022 World Championship bronze, two European 1500m golds, and gold and bronze medals from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Indoors, she won her record fifth European gold medal in Istanbul this year and also took silver and bronze medals in the 2018 World Indoor Championship (in the 1500m and 3000 respectively).
Her double golds in the 1500m and 3000m in the 2017 and 2019 European Indoors were the first time any athlete has done the ‘double-double’ in history.
Here are 11 quotes from Scotland’s track champion.
5. Laura Muir on...starting her career in cross country
“Cross-country got me into running in the first place, it was my very first athletics race. It’s where it all started. It’s important to keep that foundation there and that link. It's just about working really hard and being able to push yourself to your limits. If you can do that on the grass and on the mud, you can do it on the track." Photo: Michael Steele
6. Laura Muir on...looking after her mental health
“We’ve seen the issues of sport and mental health come to the fore and it’s also something flagged up in veterinary where it is a big big issue. So having the two alongside one other, where mental health is something you look out for, has been a huge help to me in coping with my workload." Photo: Ian MacNicol
7. Laura Muir on...runnning clean
“I can count the number of paracetamol I’ve taken in my life on one hand. I don’t like taking anything. There is medication out there that is perfectly fine to take – like paracetamol – but if something is sore I don’t want to mask it. During and after training sessions I always just have water and a banana. I don’t have any special shakes. I don’t even drink coffee. I tried it once but it made my heart race.” Photo: Warren Little
8. Laura Muir on...althletes becoming influencers
“It’s a different culture these days, isn’t it? Everything’s online and people’s appearances are deemed more important. Yeah, I like to dress up and have nice hair and make-up – but there’s a time and a place. I don’t want to be like that 24/7. I enjoy training and getting muddy and wet, hair all over the place. I don’t want to become something I’m not. I’m just a normal girl from Scotland that likes running.” Photo: Ian MacNicol