The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Laura leads tartan European charge
Nine Scots are named in GB&I team for Glasgow
Nine Scots have been selected by British Athletics for the European Indoor Championships at Glasgow 2019.
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.
Dundee Hawkhill Harrier Laura Muir will double up over 1,500m and 3,000m in the familiar surroundings of the Emirates Arena – with the Scot the defending champion in both of those events following success in Belgrade two years ago – while Pitreavie’s Eilidh Doyle and Zoey Clark are both also named for two events, the individual 400m and the 4x400m Relay.
Muir’s club colleague Eilish McColgan joins Muir in the 3,000m and Jemma Reekie will race her esteemed training partner in the 1,500m.
Scotland’s endurance strength is underlined by the other selections at 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m – Guy Learmonth, Neil Gourley, Chris O’Hare and Andy Butchart.
In all, the GB and NI team numbers 48 athletes. The best Scottish representation at these championships previously was six athletes back in 2015 and then again two years ago in Belgrade when Muir won double gold, McColgan took a bronze in the 3000m and Doyle won silver in the relay.
Stephen Maguire, head of performance and coaching with scottish athletics, is thrilled with the selections.
“Firstly, we say many congratulations to all those selected – it is a tremendous achievement,” said Stephen.
“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 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. And their goals will be the podium or places in finals.
“Medals will be hard to come by at Glasgow 2019. There’s talent there in Europe. 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. But I’d be very confident that Scots can perform very well indeed at the Emirates Arena in a couple of weeks.’
Announcing the team, British Athletics performance director Neil Black said: “It is fantastic to have our biggest ever contingent of Scottish athletes for a major championships in their backyard and we look forward to watching every single member of the team thrive in front of a home crowd.”