Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Seven Scots heading to World Champs in London
SEVEN Scottish athletes qualified for the London World Championships in August following the UK Championships/World Trials at Birmingham.
Eilidh Doyle, Eilish McColgan, Steph Twell, Andrew Butchart, Zoey Clark, Josh Kerr and Chris O’Hare all achieved top-two places having achieved the necessary qualifying times for London.
The first two eligible athletes in each individual event were assured selection provided they gained the qualifying standard by midnight on July 9.
A Scottish one-two came in the women’s 5,000m final where Eilish McColgan cranked up the pace with a kilometre remaining.
Steph Twell shadowed the Dundee Hawkhill Harrier from the bell and opened up a powerful sprint around the final bend to take the finishing line in 15 minutes 35.50 seconds, ahead of McColgan’s 15:38.57.
These two will join the absent Laura Muir for the London 5,000m, the Milnathort European double indoor champion seeking to double up in the 1,500m.
Having blitzed the opposition in her 400m heat — she finished 15 metres ahead of the opposition in 56.35 seconds — Doyle made a successful defence of her title.
The Kinross athlete led to 200m in the final chased by Meghan Beesley before opening up a 10-metre advantage to the line in 55.59. Beesley held second place, just, in 56.68.
Doyle said: “That was fairly rubbish as I lost my stride over the last 200m but, hopefully, I can put together some good races before the world championships.”