The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Magnificent seven seal places in London team
WORLD TRIALS: Scottish athletes will represent GB after top-two finishes
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 (Pitreavie/Team Bath) made a successful defence of her title.
The Kinross athlete led to 200m in the final chased by Meghan Beesley (Birchfield) 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 pattern over the last 200m, but hopefully I can put together some good races before the world championships.”
Butchart won the men’s 5,000m title for the second year in a row with a burst of acceleration five laps out.
The Central AC athlete was able to coast the final 50 metres clocking 13 minutes 50.55 seconds having achieved the qualifying time of 13:22 at the Eugene Diamond League in May. Andy Vernon followed home in second in 13:54.63 but will have to improve to claim his place in London.
The Dunblane athlete said: “It went really well, it was the best I could have hoped for.
“My legs were tight because I’ve been training at altitude, but it was good to secure the place and to get the win.
“Next up I’m doing the London Diamond League, and it will be great to go to the Olympic Stadium twice this summer.”
Butchart, who takes on Mo Farah in the 3,000m at the Anniversary Games next weekend, returned to the track about one hour and 45 minutes after the 5,000m final for the 1,500m heats but struggled on the final lap as Jake Wightman stretched away, with Butchart fading to fifth place.
A Scottish and Edinburgh clean- sweep of the podium places came in the 1,500m where O’Hare, Kerr and Wightman battled down the home straight, with O’Hare prevailing in 3 minutes 47.28 seconds. Kerr dipped on the finish line to clinch second place with 3:47.71, shading Wightman’s 3:47.74.
With Wightman having won the recent Oslo Diamond League race the selectors are likely to allocate him the third place in the GB team.
British Universities champion Clark (Aberdeen) is also headed for London after her 400m final victory in 52.30 seconds having already achieved the 52.10 qualifying time last month.
Jack Lawrie (Pitreavie/Woodford Green) finished fifth with 50.65 in the men’s 400m hurdles final won by Jack Green (Kent).
Lasswade’s Guy Learmonth excelled in the 800m final placing second in 1:49.89 behind Elliott Giles (Birchfield) . Having finished in the top two both will now have to chase the qualifying time of 1:45.90.
Scottish 800m record holder Lynsey Sharp (Edinburgh AC) will have to wait the selectors’ nod after finishing third in the two-lap race.
Sheylana Oskan-Clarke (Windsor Slough & Eton) had the fastest finish in 2:01.54, while Sharp ,seemingly heading for second place, was caught on the line by Adele Tracey, a mere one hundredth ahead – 2:01.80 to 2:01.81.
Laura Weightman (Morpeth) 4:06.49 and Jess Judd (Chelmsford) 4:07.09 took advantage of the absence of Muir to place first and second respectively in the 1,500m having both secured the qualifying standard earlier this season.
Fife AC’s Stephie Pennycook placed 11th in 4:20.10 having posted a personal best of 4:14.94 in the heat.
There was a disappointing run for Scottish Commonwealth Games 3,000m steeplechaser Lennie Waite, who last week placed second at the European Team Championships just one second outside the world qualifying time of 8:42.
On this occasion the East Kilbride athlete trailed home in fourth (10:13.81) as surprise winner Iona Lake (Norwich) won in 9:57.53.
Kirsty Law (Sale) finished second in the discus with 53.73m, while Rachel Hunter (Shaftesbury Barnet) also took silver in the hammer with 63.27m.
Nick Percy’s discus win with 60.78m made it three Scots on the throws podium.
Glasgow pole vaulter Jax Thoirs 5.40m took individual silver following a jump off against winner Luke Cutts.