Euro joy for Kirsty
Cambuslang Harrier enjoys triathlon success
A Rutherglen runner enjoyed silver success at the European Championships last weekend – and then admitted she had surprised even herself.
Kirsty O’Brien, who competes with Cambuslang Harriers, finished second in the 35-39 age category at the female AG Sprint.
Kirsty admitted that she was more focused on the upcoming triathlon at Aberfeldy next weekend, and wasn’t sure how she would fare in the sprint at the Euros, which was held at Strathclyde Country Park.
However, she powered home in a time of one hour, 12 minutes and 13 seconds, taking second place in her category, and fourth place in the overall standings.
She said: “I came second behind Heather Fell, who is an ex- Olympic medallist in the pentathlon.
“I wasn’t expecting it because I have been thinking more about Aberfeldy, and I was thinking of this more like a training session. I’d raced sprint distance in Scotland earlier this year and took bronze, so I knew I could race well but there was such a huge field and so many runners from across Europe, these really great athletes.”
Kirsty, who is a lecturer in psychology at City of Glasgow College, was unaware of just how well she was doing until later in the contest.
She explained: “It’s hard when you’re on the bike to know how many people you’re ahead of, so it wasn’t until later on and I was running that I thought: ‘I must be doing quite well here’.
“When they announced it ( as she crossed the finishing line) I was like ‘oh my God, I won silver’ and I still haven’t quite come to terms with it all.
“It was lovely to do it in Glasgow too, where there were so many people supporting me.
“I had friends and family watching, so that was amazing. There’s a friend of mine from work, and I’ve helped him and his wife get started in the triathlon, and they happened to be right at the finish line as I crossed, so that was nice.”
There was time for a celebration afterwards, before Kirsty’s thoughts turned to Aberfeldy this Saturday.
She added: “After the race was over we had to wait till around 7pm for the medal ceremony, so I had a wee bit of prosecco before it, and then a wee bit more and a curry afterwards!
“I couldn’t do too much though, because the Loch Tay sprint triathlon is a big event.
“It’s a longer distance than last weekend.”
And Kirsty had praise for the European Championships itself, which brought several sports to Glasgow.
“I think it’s been really good, a lot more people were aware of them and it helped all sports to get more attention, plus Glasgow was a great host city.”