Potter conquers bout of nerves to secure maiden Olympic date
WITHIN sight of the finishing line, within reach of making a childhood dream come true, Beth Potter felt the icy fear of failure creep into her mind. The trauma could have been crippling. Instead, she turned it into a spur, securing a maiden Olympic appearance in Rio this summer.
The 24-year-old Glaswegian became the fourth Scot to secure a place in the UK’s athletics squad after finishing as the second Briton at the 10,000 metres trials in Highgate, holding off rival Kate Avery over a fraught concluding lap.
It ensured she will join former training partner Jess Andrews in the line-up for the event in Brazil with the Andorra-based Englishwoman, running only the second 10,000m of her career, sprinting clear to a winning time of 31 minutes and 58 seconds. However, Potter, a European finalist in 2014, revealed she adopted the spirit of a close friend and rival to block out the doubts and distractions.
“With four-and-a-half laps to go, I was starting to feel very nervous,” she recounted. “I was hurting. I was telling myself: ‘It’s just like one more training session. Just grind it out.’ I was telling myself to keep going.
“I remembered last year when Steph Twell blew past me at the world trials and just flew away. I said to myself: ‘Pretend you’re Steph and find that extra gear’. And it worked. Steph couldn’t be there for the race but she was with me all the way.”
Twickenham-based Potter will now consider a tilt at doubling up over 5,000m via next month’s trials in Birmingham but will return today to the school where she teaches physics with quite a tale to tell.
“My kids have been asking me for weeks: ‘Are you going to the Olympics, miss, are you going?’ It’s been doing my head in. If they asked me one more time . . . It’s going to be nice to now be able to tell them I’m going to Rio.”
Potter becomes the fourth Scottish endurance athlete to make Team GB for the Olympics behind Callum Hawkins, Tsegai Tewelde and Derek Hawkins, all of whom earned their places through fine performances in the London Marathon.
“It is a fantastic achievement by Beth Potter to run inside the standard for the second time,” said Rodger Harkins, director of coaching with scottishathletics.
“We’re thrilled at some of the recent performances by Scottish athletes including the three guys who have made the marathon team. Hopefully, it all augurs well for the British Championships and Rio Trials in Birmingham on June 24 to 26 when most of the track and field selections will be decided.
“Beth is a great example of someone who has made the leap from very promising and successful Junior athlete to a successful Senior, winning GB vests at elite level. There’s years of dedication and hard work behind that and we say well done to her and her family and coach, Mick Woods.”
European champion Jo Pavey’s hopes of going to a fifth Olympics at the age of 43 suffered a major blow as the veteran, hampered by a chest infection, ended sixth among the domestic entrants.
“It was a real gamble to run,” said Pavey. “You feel bad making excuses. I wanted to give it a go, but I could tell after a few laps it wasn’t going to be there tonight. I could try to get a time somewhere, but that might be tough, looking at the times the girls have run. I might have to refocus on the 5,000m, but I haven’t given up yet.”
With Mo Farah pre-selected, Ross Millington and Dewi Griffiths put themselves in pole position to join him in the 10,000m in Rio by coming first and second in the men’s trials, but they will have to earn the qualifying time of 28 mins before mid-July.
Andy Vernon, 2014 European silver medallist and the only British man at Highgate with the qualifying standard already secured, came third and must now hope the selectors turn to him if his rivals fail to land the standard in the required time.