Laura Muir leads the 1500m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London (© AFP / Getty Images)
Organisers of the Müller Anniversary Games have announced that double European indoor champion Laura Muir will use the IAAF Diamond League meeting on 9 July to attempt to break Zola Budd’s 32-year-old British mile record.
Muir has contested just one mile track race in the past, clocking 4:19.12 in Oslo last year. She went on to break the British 1500m record with 3:57.49 in London and then 3:55.22 in Paris.
The 23-year-old carried her record-breaking momentum into 2017 and put together an undefeated indoor campaign in which she set European indoor records for 1000m and 3000m as well as national indoor records at 1500m and 5000m.
Her target for the race on 9 July will be Budd’s time of 4:17.57, set in Zurich in 1985.
Since it opened in 2012, the London Stadium has hosted five world records in four years, including the 100m hurdles at last year’s Müller Anniversary Games.
“I am in the form of my life and want to make the most of it,” said Muir. “With the mile being a non-championship distance, the Müller Anniversary Games is the best possible chance I have to claim the record. The mile is such an iconic event and to become the British record-holder would be massive for me.”
“The Müller Anniversary Games is one of the best events in the global athletics calendar,” added Muir. “It’s always a wonderful experience to return to the London Stadium where there is such a passionate crowd and I encourage people to come and support not only myself as I challenge for this record, but also give the British team a great send-off for the IAAF World Championships.”
Steve Cram, British record-holder for the men’s mile, believes Muir has what it takes to break Budd’s record.
“The mile is a historic distance for British athletes, going back to Roger Bannister and the four-minute mile,” said Cram, now a commentator for the BBC. “Laura has the chance to run at the best stadium in the world, on a track that we know is fast, in a race set up for the record – I believe if conditions are good she may even threaten the world record [Svetlana Masterkova’s 4:12.56].”
Organisers for the IAAF
2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar:
5 May – Doha, QAT
13 May – Shanghai, CHN
27 May – Eugene, USA
8 Jun – Rome, ITA
15 Jun – Oslo, NOR
18 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
1 Jul – Paris, FRA
6 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
9 Jul – London, GBR
16 Jul – Rabat, MAR
21 Jul – Monaco, MON
20 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
24 Aug – Zurich, SUI
1 Sep – Brussels, BEL
