Olympic final ‘realistic’ aim for Eilidh Child, says coach

COMMONWEALTH Games silver medallist Eilidh Child has been told by coach Malcolm Arnold that she has “a realistic chance” of reaching next year’s Olympic final.

The 400-metre hurdler did not set a personal best last season, but Arnold believes that, having quit her job as a teacher in Perth and moved to Bath to train as a full-time athlete, she can resume the progress which took her to the podium in Delhi in 2010.

“Eilidh gave up her job last summer and she is now working extremely hard with us,” Arnold told www.scottishathletics.org after conducting a hurdling seminar in Pitreavie at the weekend. “She started in Bath in October. She has made good progress and I am hopeful she will make the Olympic team next year.

“She did not set a PB this past season, but has run under the Olympic standard. It is set at 55.60 seconds for 400m hurdles and she has hit 55.10 in the past.

“Last year she was just outside the 55.60 mark, but I think that was because life was uncertain for her. She was training up here and I was setting her a programme, but it was a difficult situation for all concerned. It was never really satisfactory.”

Despite the difficulty of being coached at a distance, Child reached the semi-finals of the world championships in Daegu, a performance which has helped her top the Scottish women’s rankings for 2011. Now Arnold believes that, once she has a solid winter’s training behind her, Child can concentrate on getting to that Olympic final.

“She has to improve even more next year,” the veteran coach added. “She has to get under 55 seconds, set a personal best and see where that takes her. The aim is to reach the Olympic final, and I think that is a realistic aim if we can get all the work done.

“Eilidh will have some time in Scotland over Christmas and then she will be headed for South Africa for three weeks with the UK squad. She is a hard worker and Scottish Athletics can have every reason to be proud of her. There is no secret, really, if you want to succeed at the highest level. You just have to work hard. Eilidh is technically sound. She’s very fit at the moment and hopefully it is all going in the right direction.”