Highland Games Star of the Future
COMING up with enough material for this column is a prospect that initially was a bit daunting and was increasingly so as I was moved from monthly to fortnightly to weekly, but (with a touching of wood) something usually comes to mind.
This week I moved quickly from having nothing I felt inspired to write about, to having two strands of differing material to choose from and to fashion into 500 words of something coherent. Instead of dealing with the dilemma of which one to go with, I will give you a taste of both. Last Sunday, the Oban and Lorne Highland Games hosted some of the top athletes of their type in the world. Competing among them was 18-year- old Murdo Masterson from Dunbeg. For someone as young to compete credibly against the likes of Lorne Colthart, Lukasz Wenta and Kyle Randalls is truly incredible and is an indicator that his future has the potential to be ground-breaking.
As far as I am aware, in the history of Highland Games no athlete as young as Murdo has achieved the distances that he is capable of and he currently holds three world records in the under 20s category. They are for the 16lb hammer, the 22lb hammer and the 28lb weight for distance.
On Sunday, at Mossfield Stadium he threw the 22lb hammer over 104 feet, which is remarkable.
His achievements are testimony to the encouragement, generosity and skill of coach Shaun Bate, the support of his parents, and his own dedication and determination to make the most of his prodigious natural strength and talent.
If he continues on his current trajectory, Murdo’s name in years to come will be placed firmly amongst the legends of Highland Games and he will topple many long-standing records.