Olympian and British 1500m record holder Laura Muir (coach: Andy Young) has today been announced as the captain of the British Athletics team for the Great Edinburgh International XCountry, taking place on Saturday 7 January 2017.

The 23-year-old enjoyed a strong 2016, finishing seventh at her debut Olympic Games, as well as breaking the British record over 1500m on two separate occasions. The Dundee Hawkhill athlete rounded off her season by taking the IAAF Diamond League title, becoming the first British athlete to hold a Diamond League title over 1500m in the process.

The British team competed strongly at 2016’s Great Edinburgh XCountry, with Muir lining up as part of the mixed 4x1km relay team for the 2017 edition as she bids to replicate the captivating form which saw her break the British indoor 5000m record by over 14 seconds yesterday evening.

Speaking on being bestowed with the captaincy, Muir said:

“To be given the opportunity to captain a British Athletics team is a great honour, especially on home-soil and with such a strong team.

“We saw from the medals won at the European Cross Country championships last December that we have some fantastic cross country runners in both the senior and younger age groups, and hopefully, as team captain, I can help contribute to another successful event for the British team.”

Team Leader Spencer Duval added:

“Laura enjoyed a terrific 2016 in the sport, and as both an Olympic and World Championships finalist in the last two years she now holds a level of experience that will allow her to lead the team by example.”

The Great Edinburgh International XCountry is free to spectate and will be shown live on BBC One and BBC One HD from 13:15 on 7 January 2017.

The British Athletics team for the Great Edinburgh International XCountry in Edinburgh, Scotland:

Senior Men

Ben Connor (Spencer Duval)

Ellis Cross (Mick Woods)

Sir Mo Farah (Alberto Salazar)

Alex George (Paul de-Camps)

Dewi Griffiths (Kevin Evans)

Callum Hawkins (Robert Hawkins)

Charlie Hulson (Steve Vernon)

Mahamed Mahamed (Peter Haynes)

*Jack Martin (David Turnbull)

*Graham Rush

Jonny Taylor (Gordon Surtees)

Andy Vernon (Nic Bideau)

*Ross Millington (illness) and Adam Hickey (injury) have unfortunately had to withdraw from the team

Senior Women

Charlotte Arter (James Thie)

Lauren Deadman (Bill Foster)

Claire Duck (Mike Baxter)

Rachel Felton (Christopher Frapwell)

Emily Hosker-Thornhill (Mick Woods)

Jessica Judd (Mick Judd)

Rebecca Murray (Alex Stanton)

Georgina Outten (Andrew Walling)

Beth Potter (Mick Woods)

Gemma Steel (Rob Denmark)

Steph Twell (Mick Woods)

Pippa Woolven (Luke Gunn)

Junior Men

Scott Beattie (Mike Bateman)

Hugo Milner (Chris Woodhouse)

Jonathan Shields

Sam Stevens (Alan Maddocks)

Sol Sweeney (Catriona Helen Tavendale)

Alex Yee (Kenneth Pike)

Junior Women

Phoebe Barker (Richard Owen)

Cari Hughes (Andrew Walling)

Harriet Knowles-Jones (Paul Roden)

Amelia Quirk (Beverly Kitching)

Erin Wallace (Dudley Walker)

Victoria Weir (Simon Anderson)

Mixed 4x1km Relay

James Bowness (William Parker)

Laura Muir (Andy Young)

Charlene Thomas (Aaron Thomas)

James West (George Gandy)