Scottish athlete of the year Sharp reveals Olympic ambitions

Lynsey Sharp was named Scotland’s athlete of the year at Scottish Athletics’ annual awards and vowed that the honour will not be her last.

The Edinburgh-based prospect held off world championship semi-finalist Lee McConnell for the prize after a season that saw her win 800 metres bronze at the European Under 23 Championships, as well as threaten to break into Britain’s senior top three.

The 22-year-old admits that her rise up the rankings has spurred her to chase a place at next year’s Olympics in London.

“I had a taste last season,” she said. “I didn’t run that well at my first Diamond League. I was way off the pace. But that really showed me how much more work I have to do.

“Some of those girls have eight years on me. I’m almost like an underdog coming through. There’s no pressure on me. It’s just about taking another step.” The achievements of Sharp – whose parents Cameron and Carol were also internationalists – underlined her successful comeback from a series of injuries that threatened to strangle her career in its infancy.

The dark days of those teenage years, she hopes, are now behind her as she continues her twice-daily sessions at Meadowbank Stadium, having to date eschewed the temptation to migrate south where the charges to use facilities are not as punitive as in her home city. After facing the possible end to her ambitions, only to rebound forcefully, she has no intention of holding back.

“I just really have to work hard through the winter,” Sharp said.

“I know I’m so close to the A Standard for the Olympics but there are so many people who have done it already. So it’s not just about me doing it. It’s about running faster than them as well. That makes it harder but more exciting, too. I’m very focused on what I want to achieve.”

Edinburgh AC, Sharp’s sporting nursery, was named club of the year at the awards in Glasgow, while International Paralympic Championships World 100m champion Libby Clegg took the disability athlete of the year prize.

Distance runner Derek Hawkins took the spoils in the under 20 category, with Tom Holligan and Nick Percy sharing the junior honour. “I know next year is going to be hard,” said 17-year-old Holligan, a sprint gold medallist at last month’s Commonwealth Youth Games. “My main target will be the world junior championships.”

Meanwhile, at the Commonwealth Games Dinner in Glasgow on Saturday night, Imogen Bankier was named Scottish sportsperson of 2011 and awarded the Lonsdale trophy.

Bankier is the first badminton player to win the trophy, and the third woman following Katherine Grainger (rowing) and Hannah Miley (swimming). The award is for performances between 17 October 2010 and 16 September 2011.