EXCLUSIVE

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SUSAN EGELSTAFF

WHEN Jemma Reekie broke onto the senior international scene in 2018, it was not always smooth sailing for the 21-year-old.

She was the up-and-coming star whose performances were catching the attention of the athletics world and she began to break into the senior GB team, much to the discontent of some of the older, more established athletes.

As she gained her first GB senior call-ups, including making the team for her first European Championships, not everyone was pleased to see her progress.

“Last year, I found things quite difficult because I felt like I was disrupting the team in some ways,” the 1500m specialist said.

“It was hard because the older girls are all friends with each other and then, all of a sudden, there was this new person who was coming in and mixing it up and they weren’t all delighted about it. So it was quite tough. I found it hard emotionally.”

But these struggles did not affect Reekie’s performance, nor her motivation, one single bit. If anything, it drove her on further, and 2019 has transpired to be even more successful for the Ayrshire runner.

Still young, Reekie’s primary target for this year was success at the European Under-23 Championships in Sweden.

Heading into the championships, Reekie, who had won Under-20 European gold in 2017, thought she would be content with spots on the podium in both the 800m and the 1500m.

But when she stood on the line she knew she wanted more.

“As soon as I walked on the track, I knew I wouldn’t be happy unless I won two golds,” she said. “I just knew that anything less than that would be a disappointment.”

To do the double was quite an ask, but Reekie duly delivered. Gold in both