Zurich trio on track to bring more Scots joy

AS the vast majority of Scotland’s Commonwealth Games heroes weaved their way through Glasgow yesterday, three of their number were focusing on adding another chapter to this wonderful summer of success.

This weekend, at the European Championships in Zurich, Eilidh Child, Lynsey Sharp and Chris O’Hare will take to the track, determined to add to their already burgeoning reputations.

Their confidence is high and rightly so. All three won their respective semi-finals in accomplished fashion.

O’Hare will go in the final of the 1500metres tomorrow — with Child and Sharp in action today — and the 23-year-old from Edinburgh will be looking to improve on his sixth position at Glasgow 2014.

Yesterday, he delivered an emphatic burst off the last bend to leave his rivals for dead to win in 3:39.24 and join British rival Charlie Grice in the final.

‘I just sat at the back and let them fight it out for the first 10 rounds and came through to take the last couple,’ said O’Hare.

‘I was surprised that I pulled away from them. It was noisy as hell, so I didn’t know where they were, and I came off the home straight trying not to look behind. But all I could hear was my dad shouting, “Easy, easy, easy”, so if he was telling me to be easy, I knew I could ease it down.’

Child, meanwhile, will beg UK Athletics chiefs for a shot at a golden double when she bids for victory in today’s 400m hurdles final.

The 27-year- old from Perthshire starts as favourite to land her first major title this afternoon after two comfortable victories in the rounds.

However, she is hoping for a second crack at a medal in tomorrow’s 4x400m relay final and the chance to add to her collection.

Even though she will sit out the heats, the Scot is eager to retain her place in the first-choice quartet in the face of a new wave of one-lap rivals.

‘Hopefully, they bring me in,’ she said. ‘I don’t know if they will because there are other options. So if I do get that opportunity, I want to put down a good marker because every time you get on the track, you’re fighting for a spot. That’s good. We want to keep getting stronger.

‘When we lost Perri Shakes-Drayton for the season, everyone thought we’d be weaker. We miss her but it’s good we have that depth to replace her.

‘At the world indoors, we didn’t change the team from the heat to the final, whereas now we have more people around and that means we’re fresher for the final.’

Sharp will line up in the 800m final with the 24-year-old aiming to retain her title from Helsinki two years ago.

Meanwhile, Eilish McColgan has hit out at UK Athletics selectors for leaving her out of their European squad — after watching her overseas rivals cruise into the final of the 3,000m steeplechase with ultra-slow times.

The Scot’s appeal against her omission was rejected despite missing the qualifying time by less than two seconds. But she took to Twitter after watching Cristina Casandra of Romania claim a final place i n 10: 00.48 — 25 seconds outside McColgan’s season’s best.

‘The steeplechase is the only event to have the same standard as Worlds and Olympics,’ she said. ‘Ten minutes qualified. All three British athletes would have had a great chance in making that final.’

Last night i n Zurich, Martyn Rooney lead home a British one-two in the 400m, with teenager Matthew Hudson-Smith taking silver.

Laura Weightman then produced a fine run to win bronze in the 1,500m.

Two weeks on from taking silver at Hampden, the 23-year- old crossed the line in 4:06.32 behind the winner Sifan Hassan of Holland and Sweden’s Abeba Aregawi.

‘I’m really pleased with that,’ said Weightman. ‘I wanted to go with them and hang on for as long as possible and be in a strong bronze.’

Jodie Williams set a new personal best as she claimed silver in the 200m, while Adam Gemili secured the men’s 200m crown with the second sub-20 seconds run of his life.