Laura Muir won silver in Tokyo
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The 2022 edition of the World Athletics Championships began on Friday and 10 days of exciting action lies ahead.
Here, Standard Sport’s Matt Majendie runs the rule over medal hopefuls for Great Britain...
Keely Hodgkinson
One of the shining lights of a mostly disappointing British athletics team at the Tokyo Olympics, the then 19-year-old defied her age and inexperience to take silver in the 800m which would have been unthinkable at the beginning of last year. She has continued that form with one of the quickest times this year to win at the Bislett Games. The problem is that she is up against the American Athing Mu and Kenya’s Mary Moraa in her bid for gold.
Max Burgin
Much like 800m world record holder David Rudisha, Burgin likes to lead from the front and has done so to good effect in his break-out season. No one has run two laps of a track quicker than him — his time of 1:43.52 bringing comparisons to Seb Coe, who remains the British record holder for the distance. Like Coe, Burgin is coached by his father, and he looks clear of the hamstring and groin injuries that curtailed him last season.
Laura Muir
The Scottish veterinarian has flitted between the two middle distances of 800m and 1500m but will only race the longer distance in Eugene. Like her team-mate Hodgkinson, she came away from Tokyo with a silver to break her duck in the chase for a first global medal. With the shackles off, she has made no secret of the fact that it is world gold she is after now. The biggest obstacle remains Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, the Olympic champion.
