Learmonth the right Guy to channel his inner beast

GUY LEARMONTH, by his own admission, is a bit of an animal. Known as the gorilla, he plans to use brute strength in tomorrow’s Diamond League meeting in Birmingham where he wants to use a strong 800 metres field as his springboard to a world championship qualifying time.

“As kids, me and my mates were The Gorilla Gang,” the 27-year-old Borderer says. “People use that emoji for me or call me a gorilla. I was out with some mates at a training camp in 2017 and I thought I’d draw up a logo for a bit of fun. We went to a tattoo parlour and asked the guy if he could match it and half-an-hour later, I’d had it tattooed on my tricep. But I didn’t want to stop there. I got the whole image copyrighted and got into bed with a cap company.”

His headgear is now modelled by fellow athletes – including new girlfriend Jazmin Sawyer – who are corralled into promoting his range through their Instapics.

Learmonth’s mother Terri is another who has always been deeply invested in his successes but her capacity to motivate has taken a fresh twist.

“She’s said if I ever win an Olympic or world medal, she’ll get a tattoo,” he says. “And she hates tattoos. So I’m hoping I’ll have her sitting down to have it one day. That would be some sight. It’s quite an incentive to have my Mum with a gorilla.”

Learmonth needs to channel his inner beast in Birmingham with the

UK’s world trials just a week away. The standard of 1:45.80 is his lone goal.

“Those are the cards I’ve been dealt,” he says. “My back is up against the wall. But every year, I’ve had that, I’ve pulled something out. I don’t get too bogged down in times though. I’ve always hit the standards every year. I just know I’m cutting it fine now.”

Learmonth will be joined in Birmingham by fellow Scots Jemma Reekie and Eilish McColgan, competing in the mile, with Chris

O’Hare in the 1500m and Lynsey Sharp in the 800m.