Athletics: Allan Scott back to hurdling after rugby experiment

Hurdler Allan Scott went to Beijing and Melbourne in pursuit of success as an athlete before he fell “out of love” with the sport by his own admission.

Embracing rugby proved nothing more than a short-term fling, however, and now he hopes his career can take another leap forward at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday.

Scott’s involvement in the scottishathletics National Indoor Open is one of the more intriguing aspects of the weekend event in Glasgow which has attracted huge interest from competitors across the country.

The 29-year-old hasn’t featured in a competitive race for two years but wants to find out if he can recapture the kind of form that once made him a Great Britain team-mate of Andy Turner and led to an appearance in a World Indoor final four years ago.

And with Chris Baillie, who went to the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with Scott and won silver, also featuring on Saturday there is plenty of hurdling interest.

“I am competing in the 60 metre hurdles in the National Indoor Open and I am looking forward to it,” said Glaswegian Scott, who has always competed for English club Shaftesbury Barnet.

“Basically, it is my first race for two years. I trained in the winter of 2009-10 ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, but my heart wasn’t really in it. I had fallen out of love with the sport if you like, but had no real plan to do something else.

“Ultimately I decided to switch to rugby, but I only dabbled in it if truth be told. With help from the Scottish Institute of Sport, I trained with Murrayfield Wanderers and the Scotland Sevens boys. I played in a couple of tournaments, but one of them was only one game.

“Then, last year, I was back at university completing a teacher training course and found it was quite full-on. I had to focus on that and all I did in terms of fitness was ticked over.

“I picked up my training more last July and I’ve been working with Stuart Hogg at Pitreavie right through the autumn and winter.”

Scott doesn’t boast about his erstwhile status, but the fact is he has been rated No 1 hurdler in Britain in the past and was sixth in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.

“I was at a good level and went to Beijing for the Olympics with Great Britain and Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games,’ he said, when asked about his record. “I guess I am now wondering if I can back to anywhere near that kind of level. That’s the sort of question you ask yourself. The main thing is I am enjoying my hurdling again.”