AS the performances of Scottish athletes demand ever more attention, Kelly Holmes has added her voice to those expressing admiration and awe at the achievements of the “unassuming” youngster who is laying waste to the double Olympic gold medalist’s haul of records.

Holmes became a household name at the 2004 Olympics in Athens when she won both the 800m and 1500m, but she has watched Laura Muir run faster than she ever managed to in the past year and reckons the 23-year-old Scot has the ability to start capitalising on that pace by claiming medals at major championships.

Muir won the Diamond League title last season, breaking Holmes’s British 1500m record, then improving on her own mark on the way to doing so. She then began 2017 by beating another all-time great Liz McColgan’s 25-year-old British indoor 5000m record at The Emirates Arena in January and followed that by taking a second off Holmes’s 1000m record at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix last month.

All that remains is to add those medals to her collection and Holmes reckons that can start this weekend when she competes in the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade where she has been selected for both the 1500m and 3000m.

“Laura first came to my attention when she was fifth at the World Championships in Beijing in 2015,” Holmes told scottishathletics.org.uk. “She is an unassuming girl in some respects but you can see she is very strong runner. Laura has shown immense talent on the track becoming the fastest 1500m runner in the world last year.

“Laura truly can go all the way in the sport and by that I mean start to medal at major championships. She has shown her form and now needs to translate that by racing well on the world stage.

“Championships are all about placings and, at only 23, Laura has already taken the world by storm. I believe that in 2017 at the World Championships she can cement her place in history.”

While there is growing evidence that the performance of elite athletes has been over-stated in terms of drawing youngsters into sport, it is clear that being able to identify with those competing at the elite end can make a huge difference to those already engaged and in those terms Holmes noted that the future for Scottish athletics could hardly be more rosy, with the likes of Muir, Eilidh Doyle, Lynsey Sharp and Eilish McColgan all demonstrating what is possible.

“Role models are important in society generally, but role models from the world of sport I believe have the most credibility – especially if you are trying to inspire girls and women,” she said.

“Scotland has had some amazing talent in the past and it looks like it is continuing. I wish Laura a healthy and productive Winter and look forward to following her progress in 2017 and beyond.”

Scotland may boast only around eight per cent of the overall British population, but its athletes make up some 20 per cent of the GB team heading to Serbia this weekend with Muir, McColgan, who is similarly listed for both the 1500m and 3000m and Doyle, joined by fellow track athletes Steph Twell, Guy Learmonth as well as high jumper Allan Smith.

Holmes’ message has meanwhile been placed in broader perspective by the observations of one of the grandees of British athletics, Brendan Foster offering the view that he has never known the Scottish scene to be as vibrant as it is at the moment.

“I would think that what I see right now is probably the purple patch for Scottish athletics,” he said.

“You’ve got world class athletes in several events, guys that can win things, women who can win things.

“ I think it’s time to celebrate Scottish athletics because it’s probably never been stronger,” added Foster.