Athletics: Claire Gibson sole Scot on show as curtain falls at Kelvin Hall

THE Aviva British Indoor International will play to a full house at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall tomorrow, and while the old arena will probably be staging its last such occasion – the National Indoor Arena is expected to be ready next year – there should be more sadness that there will be only one Scot on view,

Kilbarchan’s Claire Gibson replacing British No 1 Jenny Meadows in the 800 metres.

Capital star Lynsey Sharp would have been an obvious replacement for Meadows but had already indicated she would not be running indoors this winter.

Much more important from a Scottish development viewpoint will be two other meetings taking place on Sunday, the Celtic Nations Indoor International in Cardiff and the new Pitreavie Gift professional meeting at the Fife venue.

Apart from comeback pair Allan Scott in the 60m hurdles and Nony Mordi in the triple jump and Pitreavie youngster Anthony Young in the 200m, Emily Stewart (Edinburgh AC) gets her first senior vest in the women’s 3000m, where much will depend on the quality of the opposition.

Though victory for Scotland is obviously important, Stewart will also be hoping she gets towed to a fast time, possibly under 9 mins 20 secs.

EAC team-mate Kath Evans goes in the 800m, while a former EAC stalwart Gregor MacLean will look to improve his recent Scottish indoor pole vault record of 5.19m.

Capital high jump ace Jayne Nisbet opens her season in the London Indoor Games at Lee Valley on Sunday with the Uk Championships in Sheffield in two weeks time very much in mind.

Vancouver-based club rival Emma Nuttall has already cleared 1.81m in Seattle to lead the Scottish rankings so far.