Potter moves up a gear to defend title
BETH POTTER’S achie ve me nt in be coming an Olympian last ye ar was an inspirational one , but for no-one more than the school te ache r he rse lf, it se e ms.
For all the e xcite me nt ine vitably ge ne rate d among the youngste rs at the London school at which she taught, far from fe e ling satisfie d with he r accomplishme nt, the 25-ye ar-old Glaswe gian cle arly came back from Rio with a gre at de al of food for thought.
That was partly be cause she was disappointe d with how she ran in that Olympic 10,000 me tre s, but has more to do with a de te rmination to fully e xamine he r pote ntial.
She re ve ale d that she had take n the first ste p in that proce ss imme diate ly afte r compe ting in the Gre at Edinburgh Cross Country e arly in January whe n announcing that she had quit he r job as a physics te ache r to be come a full-time athle te . Anothe r couple of we e ks afte r that whe n she furthe r e xplaine d he r plans, it be came e vide nt that the re simply would not be time for anything othe r than training.
Running 10,000 me tre s to Olympic le ve l on a pe rfe ctly smooth track was not e nough in itse lf, it se e ms.
Inste ad, she de cide d to make it that bit more challe nging by taking on the additional challe nge s of training to be able to swim compe titive ly for 1.5 kilome tre s, the n cycle anothe r 40 kilome - tre s, imme diate ly be fore cove ring he r Olympic athle tics distance ove r the le ss ce rtain te rrain of running on roads.
With that switch to triathlon, she has me anwhile de monstrate d that the work she has done on improving he r me ntal stre ngth in re ce nt ye ars has not be e n waste d since only some one who is re ady to te st the mse lve s to the limit could possibly have joine d the camp she has e nte re d, by moving to Le e ds to join Olympic gold and silve r me dallists Alistair and Jonny Brownle e , a world de vote d to physical e nde avour.
“I know what it take s to ge t to the top of a sport. I’m not e xpe cting it to be e asy.
“I’d achie ve d what I se t out to in be coming an Olympian in athle tics and it’s not that I’m bore d with that, but I don’t want to le ave any stone unturne d so I’m going to give this my all. If it’s not for me afte r ne xt ye ar the n I’ll have found out, but I’m loving it at the mome nt.”
The foundations are the re , not only with he r obvious running ability, but having be e n a swimme r who was good e nough to pick up me dals at Scottish Schools compe titions.
“Cycling’s the one that is ne w for me ,” Potte r note d.
“It’s a bit tricky with the switch from swimming to cycling. The muscle s you use play against one anothe r a bit.
“Obviously running is what triathlon come s down to. You don’t have to be the be st at the othe r two. You just have to make sure you’re in touch.”
Just five or six we e ks into the proce ss she fe e ls it is too e arly to have a re al ide a of how it is going but, for all that, she admire s the way the me n who are arguably the world’s most comple te athle te s go about the ir busine ss, she se e ms undaunte d. “Se e ing how the y’re training is impre ssive , but I’m not worrie d about it,” said Potte r.
In te rms of the pote ntial impact on he r athle tics the re could arguably be no be tte r e xamination than at Falkirk’s Calle ndar Park this we e ke nd as she de fe nds the National Cross Country title that she won for a se cond time last se ason.
The re is, afte r all, no te rrain on which he r e xpe ctations should be highe r since she has also twice be e n Scottish unde r-15 champion, twice Scottish unde r-17 champion and won the unde r-20 title at this ve nue .
A minor injury shake n off she is looking forward to a first compe - titive outing since the Gre at Edinburgh Cross Country at the turn of the ye ar.
“I have n’t run for the last we e k be cause I straine d a ligame nt in my foot, but I had my first se ssion back on We dne sday and re porte d.
The participation of Potte r’s fe llow Olympians Callum Hawkins and Andre w Butchart has not ye t be e n confirme d but a re cord e ntry has be e n attracte d for the day’s e ve nts, the time table for which is: 1am unde r-13 boys; 11.16am unde r-13 girls; 11.3 2am unde r-15 girls; 11.53 unde r-15 boys; 12.15pm unde r 20 and unde r-17 wome n; 12.50pm unde r-17 me n; 1.20pm se nior wome n; 2.20pm unde r-20 me n; 2.50pm se nior me n. it we nt we ll,” she