Laura Muir says that she has little option but to miss the 2018 Commonwealth Games because of the time constraints of her veterinary studies degree.
The 24-year-old athlete from Milna-thort insists that her final year at the University of Glasgow will make it almost impossible to run for Scotland in Australia’s Gold Coast next April.
Having already put her education on hold to accommodate the Olympic Games and next month’s world championships, Muir has decided that next year should be the one in which she completes her degree.
“We had to sit down and look at it and 2018 is not a worlds or an Olympics,” Muir said. “I have to finish my course in a certain time. We just decided that I need to finish my course. My studies will go up to the end of April then I have exams in May. So it’s looking unlikely the Commonwealths is going to fit.”
Her absence will be a big disappointment to the Scottish team in Gold Coast where Muir would have been almost certain to win at least one medal. She will be among the favourites in both the 1,500 and 5,000 metres at this year’s world championships in London.
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Muir is unusual in that she combines her athletics career with a demanding full-time degree. She has been identified as the next darling of British athletics, especially since her two gold medals at this year’s European Indoor Championships, but she is just as ambitious to be a qualified vet.
The Scot, who has overcome a stress fracture of the foot during her preparations for London, recognises the fragility of a career in sport. She is keen to ensure that, when it is over, she will have in place the qualifications to succeed in her chosen profession.
Asked if her veterinary career, and her lifelong love of animals, took priority over athletics, she replied: “I wouldn’t say it is the priority. I think they are 50-50. They are both very important to me. I have spent a lot of time on running these last couple of years, but it is very important to me that I get my degree.
“Anything can happen in sport. I’ve had this little niggle, which luckily has been OK, but you just never know. You could break your leg and that could be it. You have to have that back-up plan. Veterinary was at the forefront of what I wanted to do from a very young age and it is still very important to me.”
Muir competed for Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she finished 11th in the 1,500m final. Her next opportunity to wear the colours of her country at that level will be in 2022, when the Games will be held in a nation yet to be decided.