Beattie anticipates more Scots joining the GB elite in Rio
FOUR Scottish athletes have already booked their seats on the Team GB and NI plane bound for Rio this summer.
Ian Beattie, chairman of scottishathletics, expects there to be a good many more sitting alongside marathon trio Callum Hawkins, Derek Hawkins and Tsegai Tewelde, as well as 10,000metres runner Beth Potter following the British Olympic trials in two weeks’ time.
Athletics in Scotland is on a significantly upward curve and while Beattie — the man who will guide the sport’s governing body in this country for another four years — is taking nothing for granted, he has high hopes for what could unfold in Birmingham later this month.
For the past six Olympic games, no more than five Scots have been involved in the athletics line-up for the British team. This year, on top of the four already selected, eight will head to the trials with the necessary qualifying times already banked and a top-two finish required to make sure of automatic selection.
‘I am confident there will be quite a few other Scots joining the four already selected,’ said Beattie. ‘It’s an exciting time for our top athletes and it is really positive to see an increasing number of Scottish athletes becoming realistic contenders for places in UK teams.
‘Of course, there is still a lot of hard work ahead for all of our athletes, and they will need to perform when it counts at the Olympic trial and beyond. But, at this moment, the signs are very encouraging.’
He added: ‘We must not forget that the performances we are seeing now are the result of many years of hard work and did not happen overnight — it is one of the reasons why all of the development work going on in our clubs is so important.
‘Swimming is an excellent example of a Scottish sport that has performed at a high level for quite a number of years, but which took a few years to get everything in place.
‘We have now put down some strong foundations for the future. I expect to see Scottish athletes perform at a very high level in the years ahead.
‘I am delighted at the way people are working together more and I think it is one of the most important factors in helping us improve our overall performance as a sport.
‘The development work in clubs has been terrific and reflects a huge amount of effort from the athletes, coaches, officials, and other volunteers within those clubs, often in partnership with the staff at scottishathletics.
‘Communication of what is going on has improved considerably and has helped develop a culture that is honest and open. I think there is now a recognition that all of us want the same thing — a hugely successful, highly performing sport in all areas.’
One of the biggest Scottish success stories of the year so far, of course, came at the London Marathon, at which the Hawkins brothers and Tewelde made sure they were the best of British.
‘I found watching the London Marathon a very emotional experience this year,’ added ultra marathon runner Beattie, who has himself run the event many times.
‘To have three Scottish athletes run sub 2.13 at the Olympic trial was an outstanding achievement, and I am sure there is even more to come from all of them.
‘Performances like that give a boost to the entire Scottish athletics community.
‘I was particularly pleased for everyone at Kilbarchan AAC and Shettleston Harriers. Both are clubs which have done a lot of tremendous work over the last few years and are two of our leading “Club Together” (development programme) clubs.
‘It is great to see their hard work recognised by having their athletes selected to be part of the British Olympic team in Rio, and of course Beth Potter then followed that up with success in the British 10,000m trials at Highgate in London.’
Beattie features in the new edition of PB magazine, which is issued quarterly to 12,000 members of scottishathletics.
SCOTTISH athlete Nick Percy won the NCAA Collegiate title in America yesterday with a Scottish discus record of 61.27m. That made it three Scottish National track and field records broken in a week following Andrew Butchart men’s 3,000m last Sunday in Birmingham and Laura Muir’s Women’s Mile in Oslo on Thursday.