By Charlie Bennett at the Stade de France

Under the bright lights and on the biggest stage, Laura Muir delivered the performance of her life when it mattered most in the women’s 1500m final.

But it was still not enough for a medal.

The Inverness runner finished a gallant fifth in a fierce race at a rocking Stade de France on the final night of athletics at the Olympics.

Muir chased the leaders down the home straight but was unable to reel them in, as Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won gold and her Team GB teammate Georgia Bell bagged a surprise bronze.

Muir was phlegmatic afterwards – and how could she not be. She took a second off the time that earned an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo three years ago, and smashed her personal best to boot. And still, she comes away with nothing.

Kipyegon broke the Olympic record, while – to rub salt into Muir’s wound – Bell broke her British record en route to third, with Australia’s Jessica Hull taking away silver.

Bell’s medal is a remarkable story. The 30-year-old had given up on her Olympic dream and quit athletics in 2017, instead training and then taking on a job in cyber security.

She gradually returned just a couple of years ago, training alongside her full-time job. On August 31, she is due back at work after a 12-month sabbatical, unless she decides to commit full-time to the track. On this evidence, it should not be a difficult decision.

“It's a very nice podium – I am sad I'm not on it but I'm very happy with the podium they're all lovely girls,” a teary Muir said.

“It is great to see Georgia [Bell] doing absolutely brilliantly. My official time was a second faster than I did in Tokyo and in Tokyo I got silver, which is just insane.

“All I can do is run as fast as I can and I have done that.”

This race was expected to be fast but the pace still caught some out. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay blasted out of the blocks at such speed that the field was already stretched by the first bend.

Muir, who spoke before the Games of a secret plan up her sleeves, was seemingly caught flat-footed and was way back by the end of the first lap. She was so far behind that you had to wonder if she was carrying an injury.

But as the race progressed, the pace slowed and Muir started to close in. By the final lap, she had latched onto the back of Kipyegon, Hull, Bell and Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji to make it a five-way shoot-out for gold.

Kipyegon kicked hard down the back straight and was out of sight, while Bell and Muir fell to fourth and fifth. However, down the final 100m, Welteji faded and Bell just out-sprinted Muir to overhaul her for bronze.

Muir stopped the clock in 3:53.37s. She could not have done any more.

“I ran that race exactly like I wanted to,” she said.

“I just knew I couldn’t I keep that pace up at the start. I had to be patient and run my splits at the start. I knew I could run a very fast time, and I did.

“I ran a big personal best but unfortunately it wasn’t fast enough. But I wouldn’t change anything about that race.

“I was exactly where I wanted to be, I thought they all ran so hard. I caught up to a lot of them but unfortunately I was a couple short.”

Muir may be 35 by the time of the next Olympics in Los Angeles but she is determined to be there, and at 1500m despite suggestions she may start to focus on the longer 5000m.

She dabbled at 5k last year but is adamant she still wants to focus on the speedier event.

“I still think I have a lot to give at 1500m but I would like to have a crack at the 5000m one day,” she added.

“However, I still want to go to a fourth Olympics at 1500m and have another go. I think I am just going to enjoy this for a bit, have a rest and recalibrate.

“It has been a long season.”

Meanwhile, Bell, born in Paris but raised in London, said she ran the race of her life for bronze, taking four seconds off her personal best.

She works with coach Trevor Painter, who is the mastermind behind Keely Hodgkinson’s 800m gold medal, and his magic is clearly paying off.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy,” she said.

“That was an absolutely crazy race.

“I woke up this morning really calm and in a very good mood and thought I’m not the fastest person in that race but if I was brave and got stuck in then I can make something happen.

“So yeah, I am over the moon and I’m an Olympic medallist.”

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