Lynsey Sharp smashes Scottish 800m record

Sharp also moved into the UK's all-time top three. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The 25-year-old, still hurt by her failure to reach the final at the recent world championships, delivered a perfect display in poor conditions at the IAAF World Challenge meeting to win in a time of 1:57.71, beating her old mark of 1:58.80.  Beijing gold medallist Marina Arzamasova was third.

It moved Sharp into third place in the UK all-time list,  behind Kelly Holmes and Kirsty Wade, and was the fastest by a British athlete since Holmes in 2004. Sharp has now vowed to regroup over the winter and have a serious tilt at next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.

“I wanted to finish with a better time than I showed so far,” she said. “So I was very determined to go fast from the beginning. It did not work out well for me in Beijing but I knew I was well-prepared and in a good shape. I knew this track is fast. This weather was very similar to home, I train in such weather so I liked it. My goal for next season is getting into the final in Rio and then fighting for a medal.”

Guy Learmonth was fifth in the 600m at the Flame Games in Amsterdam in a personal best time of 1:16.70, with the Scot now setting his sights  on improving his time over his specialist distance before the year’s end.

“I’ve got one last big one over 800m in Italy next week,” he said. “It’s all or nothing.”