Rehabilitated Ritchie makes leap of faith

Published on Sunday 21 July 2002 01:00

As he prepares to leap into the unknown in Manchester, nobody could ever accuse Darren Ritchie of not paying his dues to the world of athletics.

Indeed, life has been a long trial for the Borderer, who suffered major problems with the titanium screws which were inserted in both feet in 1997 to stabilise stress fractures, but which instead left him in agony. At the outset, it seemed he was one of the natural talents who would benefit from the launch of the Scottish Sports Institute and the National Lottery. But as his distances plummeted, and his confidence dipped, there was a curt dismissal by the institute, and a lengthy period in rehab at Tweedbank.

"If I don’t jump well, that is it. I’m not getting back from the sport anything like I’m putting in," said Ritchie earlier this year whilst searching for some stability in his life. "I know there are people out there who probably thought I would never jump again, but I keep coming back because I love the sport. Physically I’m in good shape and I’m running quicker than I have ever done before. I just need more jumps and some better competition and, hopefully, I will recapture my best form."

Mercifully, in the past month Ritchie has produced the goods exactly when it mattered, twice beating Britain’s No.1, Chris Tomlinson. Indeed, he and his girlfriend, Lee McConnell generated the love story of the AAAs Championship in Birmingham a week ago by winning their respective events in thrilling style only minutes apart.

So it was that Ritchie claimed the scalp of Tomlinson for the second week in a row to collect the title in a new Scottish record of 7.93m, prior to watching McConnell streak to a terrific victory in the 400m. "I would rather have finished second and made the qualifying for the European Championships in Munich than take the title, but I have a programme designed for the Commonwealth Games, and I don’t want to ruin my chances by chasing events to gain European qualification," said Ritchie.

"I’ve been through so much but I feel really psyched up at the moment, and I want to do well at the Games and kick some English behind."

This fellow, who has the occupation of a printed circuit design engineer, has been given nothing easy in his career. In which light, it would be one of the sweetest recoveries in recent Scottish sporting history were he to attain a medal in Manchester. "If I have to face up to the fact my feet can’t take it, at least I’ve given it my best shot. But I don’t want to end up crippled. That is a factor. Ten years down the line, if I have kids, I want to be able to play with them."

Nobody would begrudge Ritchie his day in the sun over the coming two weeks.