Beth can Pott gold and stick two fingers up to chiefs who

TRIATHLON titan Beth Potter reckons a Commonwealth gold would prove British bosses were bonkers to claim she had no chance of making the grade.

The Glaswegian ace, 30, will take the plunge in Birmingham tomorrow with a real medal shot after rocketing up to seventh in the world rankings with a series of crack efforts this summer. It’s been payback for Potter’s gamble to put her career as a PE teacher on pause and take a leap of faith in switching from athletics following the Rio 2016 Olympics.

But despite a European title, she wasn’t given any funding by the sport until last winter and she admits that lack of backing has driven her on.

She said: “People just look now and say, ‘Oh, she’s there now, she’s up with the best’ but it hasn’t been easy.

“I didn’t have a lot of support from people when I came to this, especially from my federation. “I felt they wanted to put obstacles in the way.

“They definitely wanted to make it difficult so that I would just give up because it was too hard. But the people that have been by my side since day one, they’ve always believed in me and it’s nice to now be doing what they thought I could do.

“I still feel like it’s just the beginning though. I’ve just scratched the surface this year.”

Potter’s cheerleaders at her Leeds base include golden brothers Ali and Jonny Brownlee who’ve given her tips and pushed her every step of the way.

The Olympic 10,000m finalist is now a serious threat to Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Flora Duffy of Bermuda and English ace Georgia Taylor-Brown for Games glory after making the podium in the last two legs of the World Triathlon Series.

That, she reveals, comes from