ATHLETICS
Jemma Reekie’s inclusion among nine Scots selected for the European Indoor Championships at Glasgow 2019 has been hailed by scottishathletics.
It’s the biggest representation for Scottish athletes on a GB and NI team at this particular championships in more than 50 years of the European Indoors. Scottish athletes savouring a record representation at Glasgow 2019 are reaping the rewards for many years of hard work – and coaches and clubs have played a huge role, too.
The Kilbarchan runner has been named alongside the likes of Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan for the event at The Emirates Arena.
And scottishathletics head of coaching Stephen Maguire insists it is a sign of the progress Scottish athletes have been making.
“Congratulations to all those selected – it is a tremendous achievement,”said Maguire.
“I think for Scottish athletes to compete for GB and NI in a Scottish venue in front of a home crowd will be even more special. Nine is a very strong group and representation and, in terms of the numbers, I don’t think we really could have asked for any more.
“Most of these athletes have been competing since the age of 13, 14, 15 and have been building towards this with their coaches and the clubs over many years.
“It’s not overnight success. That just does not happen in athletics.
“It is lots of miles, lots of technical work, lots of hard graft and lots of sacrifices. That’s what takes you to this point of selection with GB and NI for a European Indoors.
“I think we have true international class athletes here in Scotland – we’re seeing repeated evidence of that in recent performances.”
However, Maguire has temepered expecations of medals.
One look at the history books would suggest that Scottish medals at the European Indoors invariably only number one or two per event.
“Medals will be hard to come by at Glasgow 2019, for sure,”he added.
“There’s talent there in Europe and we’ve seen that in the indoor performances and the rankings.
“But we should not be afraid of what we’ve got. I do think the crowd will be supportive of every GB athlete and I absolutely know they will take the roof off for the Scots. One or two medals?
“My aspirations might be a little bit more than that but indoor athletics is hard to predict.”