IN AT THE BEEP END
Lyle reveals fateful day in PE kick-started her career
MARIA LYLE has recalled the lifechanging moment which stirred her love of athletics and propelled her from nervous nine-yearold to Paralympian.
The Dunbar 20-year-old was Scottish Para Athlete of the Year for 2019 after winning double golds in the sprints at the Para World Championships in Dubai last November.
But it was a beep test in primary school PE – led by her mum Susan – more than 10 years ago which changed Lyle’s life and set her on a road which includes three medals at the Rio Paralympics aged just 16.
“People have perceptions of you when you have a disability [cerebral palsy] and that was the case for me in primary school,” said Lyle.
“One day when I was in about primary four, we had a multi-stage fitness beep test type thing to do. I wasn’t any good at anything and I wasn’t looking forward to it at all – even though my mum was the teacher. Running at that stage usually ended with me falling over 90 per cent of the time and cutting my knees.
“But I thought I would have a go and, basically, I was the last pupil standing at the end of the test. That one moment sparked my love of athletics.
“I joined the local running club in Dunbar and after a while started competing in disability events. I felt a sense of inclusion with the group at the club and I loved it at Dunbar Running Club.
“That test was the first time I’d felt I could be good at something and felt a sense of achievement. I think everyone was surprise and I was surprised as well. I suddenly thought ‘I can do running’, so that was a big moment for me.
“Within a few years my mum started looking at Para sport competitions and my parents took me all over the country to compete. Sometimes I was crying on the start-line I was so nervous but I managed to get over that.
“Para sport is different from able-bodied athletics: with less numbers, you can compete at international level at 14. That’s normal in Para sport. I did that and managed to cope with it – although I could run the times at the age of 12 I could not have coped with it at that age, being at competitions and so on.”
High-profile success at a very young age did not come without issues, however, and Lyle has been very candid about mental health troubles in her teens. A move to a base near London did not work out.
“I think I rushed my development as an athlete too much,” she said.
“I moved from a club and group environment to a more specific, performance environment. I was trying to improve but I think athletes at that stage in their teens need a group to help keep the enjoyment going.
“I went to near London and I was in a group with ablebodied guys who were on the UK Athletics Performance programmes – they were capable of running 10.4 or 10.3 for the 100m.
“It was all a hugely different experience for me and it reached a point where my mental health was not the best. I had to come home. It was too big a step for me at that time.”
Linking up with then fledgling coach Jamie Bowie provided the right platform.
“I’ve known Jamie a long time around athletics in East Lothian. When I came back, I was in a bad place and even just the basics of training in the gym and on the track needed sorting out.
“My mum and I approached Jamie and thankfully he had just started getting into coaching. With his help, I went back to basics. He does not just see me as an athlete he sees me as a person.”
That moment sparked my love of athletics