Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Determined Muir means business
LAURA Muir admitted she couldn’t hang about in her quest for an elusive Commonwealth medal after qualifying for Saturday’s 800 metres final in her first outing in Birmingham.
The Olympic 1500m silver medallist, now chasing a double, was second to Jamaica’s Natoya Goule to set up a gruelling weekend of three races in three days with two medals on the line.
“I needed top two and that’s what I did,” said Hawkhill Harrier Muir. “I had to run fast to do that because the standard here is so high but it’s great to be in that final.”
Hot favourite Keely Hodgkinson won her heat but confessed to a slow recovery from joining Muir as a world medallist in Oregon a fortnight ago.
“I’m just trying to recover and get going again,” the Englishwoman said.
“I felt good today. I didn’t really plan to take the lead but in an 800, you never know what is going to happen. I went with it, trusted my pacing and came away with the win.”
Fifer Jenny Selman crashed out with fifth place in a slow heat while Jemma Reekie’s struggles continued when she failed to make the final, with third place in her opener.
The Scot, fourth at the Olympics, came 0.28 seconds behind Australia’s Catriona Bisset but then lodged an appeal for an infringement that was rejected by officials.
“I’m gutted to have not got through to the 800m final,” she said. “But I’ll line up in the 1500m and go again.”
British champion Nick Percy eased into tomorrow’s men’s discus final with a best of 60.68m in his heats while Scottish record holders Adam Thomas and Alisha Rees advanced into today’s men’s and women’s 100m semi-finals.
Eilish McColgan, meanwhile, has designed a grand scheme in her head to pursue the first Commonwealth Games medal of her career in tonight’s 10,000 metres final in Birmingham.
Off the track, the Dundonian has an even bolder scheme drafted up: to get more Tayside kids involved in athletics and ensure that none are frozen out because they cannot afford to come in.
Give Back To Track is the name of the vehicle McColgan has established to drive a new generation of Scots through the doors of the club that gave her a start – with cash available to help them on their way.
It’s being seed-funded with some of the earnings that the 31-yearold has racked up as a social media influencer and a top draw from meeting organisers across the world.
After-school sessions, travel grants and plenty of help have been pulled together by McColgan and her ex-runner boyfriend Michael Rimmer in order to remove some of the roadblocks to plotting a path from Scotland towards the elite.
McColgan said: “I’m going to start with Dundee Hawkhill Harriers just because it’s my local club.
“There will be five bursaries for young kids, both boys and girls.
“The club will decide and trustees will nominate some young athletes that they know who are either from single-parent families, or low-income families, for whom the cost of, like, track fees and club fees is just too much.”