The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Season halt is especially frustrating for sprinter
● Christie was just getting back on track after long fitness battle
The Scotland international sprinter Kathryn Christie was eagerly looking forward to her first full track season for five years until the coronavirus pandemic brought the campaign to a halt before anyone even had time to dust down their starting blocks.
The Banchory Stonehaven AC 100m and 200m specialist has shown remarkable determination and patience in battling back to fitness after surgery on both feet in 2016.
It has been a slow and often uncomfortable journey for the 25 yearold Finzean athlete who, as a teenager, won the women’s 100m and 200m double at the Scottish senior championships in 2012 and 2014.
She narrowly missed selection for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and in 2015 her hopes of selection for the European under-23 championships were ended by problems with the navicular bone in both feet.
The following year she travelledtoEdinburghto undergo surgery to correct the problem but it has taken until now for her to believe she is finally on the right track.
She said: “I really don’t know where the time has gone. It has taken a lot longer to recover than I expected but I think that’s because both my feet were operated on. They got very weak and I was suffering a lot.
“When I started training they just seemed to react badly to some sessions so I’ve had to learn not to overload things and not do too much. I have to try to get the balance right.
“I think I’m always going to have some niggles and the key will be to manage things as well as possible. I need to listen to my body and take a rest when I need to.”
Christie joined coach
Eddie Mckenna and a group of talented Aberdeen athletes, led by Great Britain international Zoey Clark, on a training trip to South Africa at the beginning of the year.
She said: “That was great. I really enjoyed it and they are a nice group to be part of. When I came back from that I felt as though I was beginning to cope with it all and I was looking forward to competing.
“So, it’s a bit disappointing that everything has been cancelled so far. I wouldn’t have placed any expectations on myself this summer but I was keen to get some competitions. It would have been a stepping stone for me.
“I guess one way of looking at it is that I’ve waited five years so a little bit longer isn’t such a problem.
“I still really love running and I enjoy training. This is just another delay but I’m still motivated to keep working at it.”