Encouraging pool of talent emerging for Scottish athletics

WHEN Scotland’s athlete of the year is announced at a dinner in Glasgow on Saturday, the winner will come from a shortlist of three; Lynsey Sharp, Eilidh Child and Freya Murray Ross.

The achievements of that trio overshadowed almost all of their colleagues. Sharp was an 800-metres silver medallist in the European Championships, Murray Ross took Paula Radcliffe’s place in the Olympic marathon and was first Briton home, and Child set a Scottish record as well as reaching the semi-finals in London.

But shortly behind those shortlisted candidates come a number of others who, in another year, might well have been contenders themselves. Some of them have been mainstays of the sport in Scotland for a long time; others are only now beginning to make the breakthrough at senior level.

There is no suggestion, least of all from the governing body itself, that track and field in this country has a deep pool of talent from which to draw. But a look at some of those who did not make the shortlist at least offers some encouragement for new director of coaching Stephen Maguire as he begins to turn his thinking towards the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Eilish McColgan, for example, must regard herself as unfortunate not to have made it on to the shortlist. Although she was disappointed with her tactics and her time in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Olympics, the 21-year-old still had a season to remember. Even making it to London was an achievement. McColgan had been on the verge of being instructed by her mother Liz to pull out of the Olympic trials as she had a throat infection. But she ran and prevailed against a more experienced field. McColgan also set a Scottish record for her main event, and set a personal best in three other events – the 1,500m, 5000m and 3000m. All that came after a long spell of rehabilitation from a broken foot, not forgetting the shock she got when she was hit by a car while out training just days before the Olympics.

Lee McConnell achieved a long-term ambition by being selected for a third Olympic Games, matching the record of Liz McColgan. She reached the semi-final of the individual 400m, and ran in the final of the 4x400m relay. Now 34, McConnell will almost certainly not try to go on until Rio 2016, but she could still play a more than useful part in the Scotland squad when the Commonwealth Games come to her home town.

Jade Nimmo, from Falkirk, became the best Scottish women’s long-jumper of all time in a meeting in America. Her leap of 6.47m erased the record set by her namesake (but no relation) Myra Nimmo 39 years earlier. It was the oldest individual record in the archives.

Mark Dry set a Scottish Championship record in the hammer at Scotstoun in June, beating the distance set by Olympian Chris Black. Selected for Team GB for the European Championships in Helsinki, he was ranked No 2 in his event in Britain over the course of 2012.

Libby Clegg won a silver medal at the Paralympics for the second time, having won both silver and gold in Beijing four years earlier. The sprinter’s achievement received scant attention, given the fact that Paralympics GB athletes won so many gold medals, but she remains one of our few genuine world-class talents.

Chris O’Hare became the first Scotsman to win the coveted NCAA title in American colleges athletics with an indoor mile victory, Meg Ritchie having been the only other Scottish winner down the decades. O’Hare was third in the Olympic trials, but controversially missed out on selection for the European Championships.

The steady improvement is already evident at junior level, particularly in the cases of Emily Dudgeon, Laura Muir and Nick Percy, who make up the shortlist for the Under-20 Athlete of the Year. All three reached the finals of the World Junior Championships in Barcelona shortly before the Olympics: Dudgeon was sixth in the 800m, Muir came 16th in the 3,000m and Percy was eighth in the discus.

The awards will be presented by guest of honour David Weir, the winner of four gold medals at this year’s Paralympic Games. In addition to the Kukri Scottish Athlete of the Year and Under-20 athlete of the year, there are awards for clubs, coaches, volunteers and for other categories of competitor.

The Para Athlete of the Year award is sponsored this year by Haven, a social enterprise company which employs people with a disability. The short-listed athletes are Clegg, Robert Ferrol and Owen Miller. Three athletes are on the short lists for the Under-18 Athlete of the Year – Lewis Boyle, John McCall and Kimberley Reed. And there are also three candidates for Masters Athlete of the Year: Fiona Matheson, Angela Mudge and Kerry-Liam Wilson.