Laura Muir sets her sights on World Championship success after dominant 1500m win at the Anniversary Games

Laura Muir laid out her medal intentions for this year’s World Championships in Doha after a rampant victory over a world-class 1500m field at the Anniversary Games in London.

The Scottish middle-distance star said on Friday that she was close to her best-ever form, having run an 800m PB in Monaco last weekend, and backed it up with a first Diamond league win of the season.

A modest early pace ended any hopes of bettering her own British record over the longer distance, but the 26-year-old still delighted the London Stadium home crowd with a sensational 57.3-second last lap to win by a clear margin in 3:58:25.

The manner of the victory, over a field that included the likes of Morrocco’s Rababe Arafi, Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo and Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, will be a huge confidence boost ahead of Doha, where Muir is looking to improve on her fourth-placed finish at the last World Championships in 2017.

Only two women have run faster in the world this year, and with one of them, Sifan Hassan, likely to favour a 5000m/10,000m double, Muir will be among the favourites.

“My goal now is to win a medal in Doha,” Muir said. “[Today] may have looked easy but it wasn’t.

“I didn’t realise I ran a 57-second last lap and I’m so happy about that. The girls are really strong and I know that my advantage is in that kick, so I just sat in there and tried to take it easy.

"It was all about winning today and I did that.

“London is a really fast track and it’s always a great atmosphere. The conditions are usually pretty good.

"It was a little bit windy today, but the whole vibe of the place is really special and it makes athletes raise their game.”

Muir was rivalled for home performance of the day by Laviai Nielsen, who ran the fastest 400m by a British woman since 2015.

The 23-year-old went toe-to-toe with Jamaican duo Shericka Jackson and Stephanie Ann McPherson, and was rewarded with a huge new personal best of 50:83 in third.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” Nielsen said. “It’s a time I knew I could do, but it was just a matter of getting the competitions in and being competitive.

“To do it here of all places – I’m not joking this is my favourite place to run. It’s really something special to me.

"Every time I’m here, the crowd just gives me goosebumps and I get a lift I just can’t describe. I just want to race here all the time.”