Sebastian Coe believes Lynsey Sharp can win a medal in tomorrow night's 800 metres final - and he also had words of support for Laura Muir after her 1500 metres misery.

Coe, who won four Olympic middle-distance medals, watched Sharp live up to her billing as the reigning European champion by confidently negotiating her way into this evening's 800m semi-finals. He believes the 24-year-old has the potential to add to Team Scotland's medal tally and avoid the kind of trouble in which Muir found herself on Tuesday night.

"Lynsey has got what I think is a really crucial asset in a competitor and that is that she is a very good championship performer," Coe told Herald Sport.

"She often nicks medals and runs well when it really matters and that's a great quality out there. She could nick a medal here, she really could."

Muir had been tipped to find her way on to the podium in her favoured event but any chance of a medal disappeared after her heels were clipped coming into the home straight. She was named on the start list for yesterday's 800m heats but withdrew about an hour in advance.

Coe, 57, watched the 1500m final from the stands of Hampden and said he was convinced that the 21-year-old would rebound from the setback of finishing second-last in a final at a home Games. "I thought it was a fabulous race," he said. "Athletes have to be, by nature, very tough and Laura will come back from this. She's got a lot of talent, a lot of ability and it was a really good race - it was a world-class race, in fact."

Coe, who won Olympic gold in both 1980 and 1984 at 1500m, believes that