Women’s 1500m favourite Sifan Hassan FALLS on final lap of her heat but STILL WINS after jumping to her feet and incredibly sprinting through the entire field… while Team GB star Laura Muir coasts through her race in strong start
- Muir was in and among the frontrunners from early on and she finished second
- In the second heat, Dutch star Hassan tumbled to the floor after falling over
- But she made an extraordinary instant recovery to sprint back and take the win
- Revee Walcott-Nolan ran a lifetime best but finished outside the top six
- Walcott-Nolan agonisingly came one-hundredth of a second outside the semis
- Faith Kipyegon took the third heat, with Brit Katie Snowden making it through
Laura Muir breezed through her 1500m heat as the Team GB star got her gold medal tilt off to a strong start in Tokyo on Monday.
The Scot finished 7th in Rio five years ago, but her dominance in the European indoor championships at this distance convinced the 28-year-old to ditch the 800m event and put all her focus on the 1500m.
And with the top six from each qualifying for the next round, Muir was in second gear in Tokyo on Monday morning as she coasted through, with one of the favourites, Sifan Hassan, also making it through.
Team GB’s Laura Muir has comfortably qualified for the 1500m semi-finals after the first heat
The Scot (second right) finished second behind Canadian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (right)
The Scot finished second in heat one in four minutes 03.89 seconds, behind Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford.
‘So excited to get started, all my flatmates have raced already so I was itching to get going,’ she told the BBC.
‘It’s about being as best prepared as possible, I felt really confident and it is nice to get started. I feel more prepare than ever. Before my speed was my weakness but I’ve improved so much.’
Dutch star Sifan Hassan, one of the favourites, recovered from a fall to win the second heat
The Ethiopia-born runner fell after Edinah Jebitok tripped but recovered superbly well
In the first heat, USA’s Cory McGee was eighth and made it as a fastest loser, while Australia’s Georgia Griffith is out.
Dutch star Hassan took a dramatic tumble in the next race after Kenya’s Edinah Jebitok in front of her tripped.
But the Ethiopia-born middle- and long-distance runner recovered impressively, instantly climbing to her feet and sprinting through the field to win the race, with Australia’s Jessica Hull also through.
Muir’s fellow Brit Revee Walcott-Nolan ran a lifetime best, but finished outside the top six.
British athlete Revee Walcott-Nolan ran a lifetime best but narrowly missed out on qualifying
Fellow Brit Katie Snowden (third left) also qualified, along with Muir, for the semi-finals
She agonisingly missed out on qualifying as a fastest loser by just one-hundredth of a second.
Faith Kipyegon won the third, with GB athlete Katie Snowden and Australia’s Linden Hall also qualifying automatically in the first six.
Snowden said: ‘That was maybe a little quicker than I wanted to run in a heat, but we’ve got a lot of time off now until the semi-final.
‘I’ve got to get back now and have an ice bath, just recover as much as possible, be ready to do it all again.’