Laura Muir fifth in 1500m final at World Athletics Championships

Britain’s Laura Muir produced a gutsy display in the 1500m final as she finished fifth behind winner Sifan Hassan at the World Championships.

The 26-year-old Scot tried to catch front-runner Hassan but was caught with 150m remaining in Doha.

Hassan, who also won the 10,000m title, took victory in a championship record time of three minutes 51.95 seconds.

Kenyan defending champion Faith Kipyegon took silver, with Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay third.

Muir, whose season was disrupted by a calf injury in July, was encouraged by her time of 3:55.76, which was a season’s best.

“I don’t know what to say, I was fifth in 3:55,” she said.

“I just tried to cover the moves as best I can. I think I lost a gear in the last 100m but to run 3:55 when I have missed so much training, I am just speechless but I am so proud of myself.”

“I clocked it at 800m, it was fast – I expected people to die a bit but must have kept the pace fast or faster.

“I could not have asked more of myself to do that. If I can run that sort of time off the minor training I’ve done, if I’m 100% fit I can be confident going into next year.”

Before the championships Muir was training in South Africa in a bid to prove her fitness following the injury and in an interview with the BBC, the Inverness-born athlete said she was able to race “straight off the bat” as a result of her sessions.

The ease in which she made it through her heat then semi-final proved she was correct.

However, when it came to the final her attempt to challenge the cavalier Hassan failed to pay off as the Ethiopian-born Dutch runner romped home to pick up her second gold of the championships.

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