On an afternoon when a world record fell and others electrified the National Indoor Arena, it was Laura Muir who walked away with an oversized cheque for $1000 and the loudest praise from Birmingham's Indoor Grand Prix.
The bonus prize for the performance of the meeting will go a long way in the refectory of a University of Glasgow student union. Greater riches, though, will be forthcoming if the veterinary student continues to deliver runs of similar ferocity.
Muir stamped her authority by accelerating away with a lap of the 1500 metres remaining, before holding off the late advance of the Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan. Her time of 4:05.32 was a Scottish record. Only Dame Kelly Holmes is ahead of the 20-year-old on the UK all-time list.
Yet it adds to Muir's growing legend that she will enter the 800m at next month's world indoor championships in Poland, a distance at which she currently tops the IAAF rankings. Publicly, her ambitions remain modest. In truth, she will be a medal contender. "It's hard to say," she said. "You can compare times but it's hard to do with different tracks and different races. You can't compare too much. I'll see how it goes. I just want to get to a final."
If the tight schedule in Sopot gives Muir a dilemma, the Commonwealth Games offer much greater leeway. On this current trajectory, and with her latest Scottish mark quicker than the Kenyan record, the potential to run both distances is intriguing. "It just depends how the summer races go," she said." If I'm stronger, I should be doing both if possible."
When UK Athletics selection committee gathers today, other Scottish hopefuls will anxiously await their fates for Sopot. Chris O'Hare faded to fifth in the Wanamaker Mile in New York but should be assured of a berth. Jamie Bowie was third in the 400m B race in Birmingham but might end up as a relay reserve. "If you give me a chance to perform, I'll perform," he stated.
Eilidh Child will probably be offered an individual spot in the 400m but is uncertain whether to accept. The European silver medallist was satisfied with a season's best of 52.49 seconds but less so with her form of late, a symptom she claimed of losing precious training time to injury
in December.
She will make herself available for the relay at the world indoors but possibly no more. Peaking in the hurdles by the summer has always been the year's primary goal. "The whole thing for me has been to work on the first 200m so that when it comes to the hurdles, I come out really fast," she said. "My strength is my strength. My weakness is my speed and I've worked a lot on that. So I need to get a little stronger again."
The selectors also have other concerns. James Dasaolu will undergo scans today on his thigh after leaving the arena in a wheelchair following his win in the 60m, while Katarina Johnson-Thompson's place in the pentathlon is now at the discretion of the IAAF, as the Liverpudlian had to pull out of a qualifier in the Netherlands with a heavy cold.
The 21-year-old can, at least, switch to either the long jump or high jump where she has the qualifying standard, but they would be a secondary option. "All my indoor season was leading up to this, I was ready," she tweeted. "Absolutely devastated - just not meant to be this weekend."
Elsewhere in Birmingham, Holly Bleasdale won the pole vault and Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz found some form to come third in the high jump, with Giffnock's David Smith seventh. London 2012 long jump champion Greg Rutherford, confirming his interest in trying skeleton or bobsleigh at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was third on his return to action.
For two of Scotland's middle-distance hopefuls, even personal bests were short of their ambitions. Guy Learmonth will miss out on the world indoors after coming fifth in the 800m. "I need to learn from this," he said. "The more races I get in this type of field, the better I'll be. But it's still a big learning curve."
Kris Gauson will now go in search of the Commonwealth qualifying mark, having ended 10th in the 1500m. "I wanted the time but in the shape I'm in now, it's very positive heading into the outdoors. I'll go away for six weeks then head to California and chase the times there."
Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba, despite running almost alone for half of the race, set a world record of 9:00.48 in the two-mile event, with Scotland's Steph Twell third in a rare indoor appearance, and Jo Moultrie fifth.
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