I've looked at a few postings on Laura's Olympic performance but no one - as far as I could see - mentions the other Laura i.e Laura Weightman.
Now the two Laura's really needed an " honest pace" in the final and so why didn't plan to share pacemaking duties if no one else was willing?
Well, I think the British Lottery Funding system worked against them - Laura Weightman, in particular.
See below, an extract of the funding criteria.
Laura Weightman would have been very, very keen to finish in the top 8, to qualify for Band B funding. and therefore wouldn't have been keen to share pacemaking duties.
As it happened, she finished 11th,
Athlete Performance Awards ( Lottery Funding)
APAs serve to contribute to the athlete’s ordinary living costs and their personal sporting costs. APAs are allocated where there is the greatest ‘financial need’ and are subject to a means testing exercise. UK Sport has set a maximum income threshold of £65,000 (including their APA) above which an athlete's APA will begin to be deducted pound for pound.
The level of APA received is determined by a number of criteria, not least of which is the level of performance an athlete has achieved and is capable of producing in the future. While there are variances depending on the sport, three performance categories apply for ‘Podium’ level athletes:
Band A – Medallists at Olympic Games or Senior World Championships or gold medallists at Paralympic Games or Senior World Championships
Band B – a minimum of a top 8 finish at Olympic Games or Senior World Championships or medallists at Paralympic Games or Senior World Championships
Band C – Likely to be major championship performers and those who demonstrate the capacity to achieve a medal result at World or Olympic level within four years but flexibility given to individual sports to set their own criteria