by Stuart Weir
Jemme Reekie takes the 800m in 1:59.68, Bauhaus Galan 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Laura Muir takes WL in 3:57.86, Bauhaus Galan 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Stuart Weir did this as his opening piece on the Bauhaus Galan. It was an excellent meet, the best meeting in Stockholm in many years. Jemma Reekie and Laura Muir took wins at 800m and 1,500m. Both are coached by Andy Young. Andy Young is an excellent coach, and most important, his athletes obviously get him.
Nice to see Shannon Rowbury do so welll!
A tale of two Scottish ladies
Coach Andy Young came up with a plan at the Bauhaus Diamond League in Stockholm to prevent having one of his star middle distance athletes losing to the other. He entered Laura Muir in the 1500m and Jemma Reekie in the 800m and came away with two winners!
Laura Muir takes WL in 3:57.86, Bauhaus Galan 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Laura Muir was first up in a 1500 from which former world and Olympic champion, Faith Kipyegon, who was originally listed, was absent. Nonetheless, the field still included Shannon Rowbury, the in-form Jess Hull, Winny Chebet and Hellen Obiri. Pacemaker Aneta Lemiesz took them through two 65 second laps but Muir simply ran away from the field with a 59.86 last lap to finish in in 3:57.86 to win by almost 4 seconds from Laura Weightman. Muir commented afterwards: “It went really well, very happy with it! It was really windy. I felt strong in the last lap and was able to work well into the wind and ultimately come away with a clear win! My strength is my endurance and I really wanted to run fast today and ultimately I made sure I cut behind the pacers as best I could when I had them and then tried the best by myself”.
Laura Muir takes WL in 3:57.86, Bauhaus Galan 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Jemma Reekie was equally impressive in the 800m. Noélie Yarigo took the runners through 400 in 59.37 with Reekie and (2019 world championship silver-medallist) Raevyn Rogers on her heels. Reekie took the lead but Rogers then made a move on the outside but Reekie held her ground before finding an extra gear. Reekie ran the second lap in just over 60 seconds to win in 1:59.68 with Rogers second in 2:01.02. Everyone knows that Reekie can run a fast lap but her race management is becoming better and better and she is just 22.
Jemme Reekie takes the 800m in 1:59.68, Bauhaus Galan 2020, photo by Chris Cooper
Reekie said afterwards: “I enjoyed it. I like to run fast. My coach said if you have a kick at the end, kick, and I felt good so I did. I don’t have a completely set plan because you never know what’s going to happen in a race, but it went one of the ways it could have gone. We’re really fortunate that we (Laura Muir and I) train together and we’re world class athletes and we complement each other in different ways. I’m bringing her on in speed and she’s bringing me on in endurance and we’re both working so hard together. I’ve run 1:57 indoors so I was hoping to run a bit quicker but this year is about getting experience -before next year – and learning to win. It’s been hard without physios and camps but you have to look at the bigger picture – athletics might be our whole world but there’s other things going on in the world as well”.
