02.02.2026

European record holder Laura Muir competes in the 3,000 metres and faces strong competition

She holds the meeting record and also the European record for the 3,000 metres: Laura Muir from Scotland. On 4 February 2017, the clock stopped at 8:26.41 minutes – back then in the exhibition hall. Now the 32-year-old, who has Olympic silver and World Championship bronze as well as two European outdoor titles and five indoor European titles to her name, is back. "Laura Muir's run in 2017 was one for the history books. I am all the more delighted that she will be competing in the 41st edition of the meeting," said Sports Director Alain Blondel. And in the Ethiopian Axumawit Embaye, she will face a rival who finished second in that memorable race with a personal best of 8:49.52 minutes. The current best time for this distance is 8:41.06 minutes. Embaye knows only too well how to win in Karlsruhe. In 2022, she was crowned winner of the Karlsruhe Meeting over 1,500 metres, a distance over which she has already won two indoor World Championship silver medals. Hirut Meshesha from Ethiopia, whose best time of 8:28.46 minutes is just below that of Laura Muir, and Spain's Marta García, who celebrated her greatest international success in 2024 at the European Championships in Rome by winning bronze in the 5,000 metres, will certainly also be in contention for the day's victory. However, her fourth place at last year's European Indoor Championships shows that she is not to be underestimated in the 3,000 metres either. Two German middle-distance runners, Lea Meyer and Elena Burkard, also want to get involved in this strong field. Meyer won silver in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, and Burkhard finished second in both the 1,500 metres and 3,000 metres at the 2025 German Indoor Championships.