The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Doyle targeting giving birth and place at Olympics in same year
ATHLETICS: Courier Country track star has been inspired by mothers taking gold medals at World Championships
Eilidh Doyle is targeting giving birth and competing in the Olympics in the same year after being inspired by gold medal-winning mothers at the World Championships.
The 32-year-old recently announced she and husband and coach Brian are expecting their first child in January.
Doyle, a former Perth Grammar School teacher, is not going to put too much pressure on herself to make the Tokyo Olympics next July and August but wants to aim high.
The 400m hurdler said: “Obviously I will need to see when the baby is born and how I feel but the Olympics would be my ultimate goal. It’s good to have that target there to help me get back and keep that motivation high.
“It will be more to be a member of the relay team. Hurdles is my main love but it would be difficult to be competitive to get a medal.”
Doyle has been inspired by watching the action from Doha. Alyson Felix won a relay gold 10 months after giving birth by Caesarean section and Shelly-ann Fraser-pryce won the 100m gold at the age of 32, before being joined on her celebrations by her two-year-old son.
“It shows there is no limit,” Doyle said. “Seeing Shelly-ann’s performance and even her interview after the 100 metres final was massively inspiring.”
“There have been others beforehand like Jess Ennis and even back to Liz Mccolgan when she had Eilish. There’s lots of examples,” she said.
Doyle has adapted to watching rather than competing. The Kinrossshire athlete said: “It’s the first World Championships I’ve not been at since my first in 2009 so that was weird. But I’m really enjoying being a fan. I never really get to watch athletics because you are caught up in a bubble so it’s good to see what my family get to see.”
The Scottish Athletics board member also has a vested interest in the event as 12 of the 72 British competitors are Scots.
“When people from your area start to do well it inspires others, for example myself and Laura (Muir) are from Perth and Kinross and Eilish is from Dundee and people from there start saying ‘why can’t I do that?”’ she said
Meanwhile, Glasgow is set to get world-class athletics action on successive weeks in February.
Tickets for the Muller Indoor Grand Prix (February 15) and Spar British Athletics Indoor Championships (February 22-23) at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena go on general sale today from noon, priced from £10 for adults and £5 for juniors. Visit britishathletics.org.uk/ events-and-tickets/