MILLER REACHES HAMMER FINAL AND THREE PROGRESS TO SEMI-FINALS

Nick Miller reached the Olympic hammer throw final and two female 1500m runners clocked personal bests on an excellent Monday morning for British athletes in Tokyo.

2019 world finalist Miller (Tore Gustafsson, Border) missed the automatic qualification distance but his second-round throw of 76.93 saw him into Wednesday’s final in sixth.

“I did what I needed to do,” Miller said. “The second-round throw was a decent distance and what I needed on the board. I know I have more to give.”

Taylor Campbell (John Pearson, Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow) marked his Olympic debut with a best throw of 71.34m in the second round, seeing him finish in 28th place.

“I’ve got to mature in the event a little bit more, I’ve got to get familiar with throwing these distances,” he said.

Laura Muir (Andy Young, Dundee Hawkhill) cruised through the 1500m heats with a time of 4:03.89, with track temperatures in her 9:30am heat already reaching 35 degrees.

The Scot eased to the front with 600m to go and upped the pace when needed to comfortably progress in second place in a time of 4:03.89.

“It didn’t feel that fast so that’s good. I just wanted to qualify for the next round as comfortably as possible,” commented Muir.

“That felt really good out there today and I am looking forward to the semi-final.”

She will be joined by Katie Snowden (Dan Stepney, Herne Hill) who ran a personal best of 4:02.77 in a heat won by Kenyan defending champion Faith Kipyegon.

Snowden is on a steep upward curve having upgraded her personal mark by more than two seconds in a World Continental Tour meeting in California in May.

“I didn’t think I could be that quick so early, so I am quite chuffed with that,” said Snowden, who is making her Olympic debut.

“When I looked at the times, I couldn’t believe how good it was. I was so focused on staying in that top six, I was counting the people ahead of me. I’m so pleased.”

Revee Walcott-Nolan (Dale King-Clutterbuck, Luton) missed automatic qualifying but could be proud of a shiny new 1500m personal best of 4:06.23.

In a heat where Sifan Hassan, attempting an unprecedented 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 treble, fell and recovered to finish first, Walcott-Nolan stayed out of trouble but missed a fastest loser spot by 0.01.

“I know I can run a lot faster than 4:06, and I just had to put myself in contention and not be scared, and I’m happy I’ve done that,” she said.

While Muir and Snowden return to action on Wednesday in the 1500m semi-finals, Beth Dobbin (Leon Baptiste, Edinburgh) did enough to make sure she’ll be back tonight.

The 27-year-old finished in second place ahead of defending champion and 100m gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah in a time of 22.78 (+0.4).

“I’m so pleased with that. It was an equal season’s best, and I can’t really ask for much more than that,” she said.

“I ran the bend how I wanted to run it and then the straight felt really controlled and I feel like I have more in the legs for later.”