Doyle takes up the baton for a team that’s on a medal mission
ASCOTLAND v England clash in a land Down Under. With the traditional underdogs in perfect position to rise up, break records — and shake up the established order.
It all fits in perfectly with the new and distinctly un-Caledonian mood around Scotland’s track and field elite these past few years. A fresh confidence that shows few signs of abating any time soon.
Eilidh Doyle, on a mission to complete a remarkable hat-trick of Commonwealth medals at her third successive Games, recognises the change in atmosphere around athletics.
And the 400-metre hurdler, silver medallist in both Delhi and Glasgow, has extra reason to look forward to the Gold Coast adventure now just a matter of weeks away.
The addition of a 4x400 relay team gives Doyle a genuine thrill. And hope of returning from Oz with another wondrous tale to tell. Alongside scintillating one-lap wonder Zoe Clark, the 30-year-old bagged silver in the relay for GB at the World Championships in London last summer.
Doyle and Clark will be the backbone of a Scotland squad that will include Kelsey Stewart, Kirsten McAslan and — for the final, at least — 800metres star Lynsey Sharp.
Doyle, who admits to having pestered Scottish Athletics performance director Rodger Harkins to pick a relay team for the past two years, is pretty bullish about their prospects.
‘Not to be controversial — but I look at that England team and know we can challenge them,’ she told Sportsmail. ‘I’m confident it would be a really good battle. We’re not just going there to make up numbers. I’m absolutely confident that we can win a medal out there.
‘I was part of the team in Delhi who broke the Scottish record (finishing fifth). And I think we’ve got a better team this time around.
‘So we can break the record again and get a medal. I’m very confident in our team.
‘We don’t know what other teams will do, depending on how people fare in individual events and all that. It would be great for us, actually, if it was a straight final, no heats.
‘Having a relay team will be excellent. I’ve been really pushing for it, for a couple of years now. When Zoe and I were part of the GB team at the World Championships in London, that kind of put the stamp on it for me.
‘I was constantly saying to Rodger: “Have you seen what Zoe is doing? Did you see how Kelsey is getting on? What about Kirsten?”
‘I was pretty constant with it — because it’s an opportunity we couldn’t miss.’
Doyle hasn’t been the only campaigner for a relay squad, with Sharp also bending Harkins’ ear regularly. All part of the new enthusiasm spreading throughout the sport in Scotland.
Doyle, still aiming to run the 400 flat in the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham this March, said: ‘There is great confidence in Scottish athletics. And that is so nice to hear because, as a nation, we are generally a bit pessimistic about things.
‘Nobody ever wants to put a medal round your neck as an athlete. You don’t say: “I’m going there to win gold”. Because we’re not that sort of country, we’re not that confident.
‘But you have seen a change. Probably ever since 2014 and the confidence that shone through. Scottish athletes aren’t arrogant. But they are increasingly confident. I think that’s really important.
‘Seeing people like Laura Muir and Callum Hawkins go out and get such good results, it inspires.
‘Because they are normal, ordinary, down-to-earth people who show a different type of mentality when it comes to competing.’
Doyle competed in an improvised 200metres at the GAA New Year Bash in the Emirates Arena on Sunday, clocking a reasonable time in a three-person race — finishing third behind a couple of men happy to help drag her through.
Incredibly, that was her first competitive appearance in Glasgow since the night when she won silver at Hampden.
‘Yeah, that was my first race back in Glasgow since the Games,’ said Doyle, looking embarrassed and throwing in a ‘ssshhh’ gesture.
‘It’s crazy, when you think about it. But last year it clashed with something else. I just decided to come up this year.
‘The last time I raced at the Emirates was for Team Scotland in that meeting in 2014, before the Commonwealth Games. I ran awful!
‘No, I was better in the relay — but awful in the individual, I remember that. It was a bit different to come back for something more low key. But nice.
‘I’ve had a few folk come and ask for photos, say it’s so nice that both Laura and myself were there.
‘My thinking is, you know, we need races, so why not? When it’s races like we had, with mixed abilities, it’s great. Thankfully, the organisers were really kind to put the race on for me.
‘And Allan Scott, who coaches the two boys, told me the pace they ran at and I could follow them for a good time.
‘They were great, they even asked me what lane I wanted. We knew Ben Coates had a good start so he went on my outside, using him on the start, and Michael Dunn comes through really quickly — so he was on the inside.
‘I really can’t thank them enough. They’ll get a shout out for any medal I win this season — it’s all down to them!’
Doyle has a meticulously planned schedule between now and flying out to the Gold Coast early, hoping to squeeze in two decent outdoor races before the Games start on April 4.
‘It’s all changed from my first games, in Delhi, when I was still a PE teacher,’ she said.
‘I’ve still got footage of them coming to my school and filming me there, all the pupils wishing me luck on my way.
‘It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. But so much has changed since.
‘I’ve got a team round me to make things so much easier now. And everyone has been brand new, helping us.
‘The weekend was the perfect example, everyone helping to get me in the best possible shape for the Games.’