Butchart heads to Slovakia knowing success can build legacy
Olympian Andy Butchart heads to the European Cross Country Championships in Slovakia this weekend but part of him wishes he was taking part in the East District XC in Livingston tomorrow.
The man who finished sixth at the Rio Olympics and eighth in the London 2017 World Championships thinks the recent successes of Scottish athletics at the highest level is having an effect on the sport as a whole, helping it grow at grassroots level, with more and more people taking part.
Butchart is thrilled that a record 2511 entries have been received for three domestic cross country events in Livingston (East), Irvine (West) and Gordonstoun (North) – the first time the 2500 barrier has been broken – as clubs and athletes are galvanised to compete more.
“I’m racing this weekend in the Euro Cross but I am actually gutted to miss out on the East District XC because I love the course there at Livingston,” said Butchart, who won the Scottish National XC title in 2015 and 2016. “There 0 Andy Butchart: Won Scottish XC title in 2015 and 2016. are massive numbers involved and for District XC events in December to attract over 2500 entries is great for the sport. I think people are realising that cross country is really good fun – and great for endurance training for the summer on the track, too.”
Butchart, who has broken national track records held by Nat Muir since the 1980s, is in the vanguard of Scottish athletes who have made an impression at global level in the past couple of years alongside the likes of Eilidh Doyle, Lynsey Sharp, Laura Muir, Chris O’hare, Callum Hawkinsandeilishmccolgan.
“I think the sport in Scotland is being inspired and motivated by performances at the top level and by big events in the UK like Glasgow 2014 and London 2017,” he insisted. “Young athletes at clubs are being inspired and getting out there and competing. That’s the feedback I’m getting on school visits and so on. We’ve a great sport and talking it up definitely helps.”
Butchart and Steph Twell lead a five-strong Scottish contingent representing GB at the Euro Cross in Samorin in Slovakia on Sunday.
There is a first appearance at this event for Mhairi Maclennan at under-23 level and Erin Wallace at under-20 level. Cameron Boyek of Central AC races in the inaugural 4x1.5k mixed relay. In the decade since Nethaneel Mitchell-blake last raced indoors on home soil, his standing in the athletics firmament has rapidly accelerated from nowhere towards the front of the field. The sprinter was just 13 then, anonymous on the boards at an age-group event in Birmingham. “My mum bought me a new pair of spikes and I was convinced I was going to run a new personal best,” he recounts. Nothing doing alas. He’ll hope to fare better on his return, at the Muller Grand Prix at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena on 25 February. The shoes, these days, are dished out free by his sponsors. The expectations, he knows, have escalated.
Welcome to a post-london reality for the UK’S victorious 4x100 relay quartet from August’s world championships, an accomplishment which overshadowed the formidable fourth place Mitchellblake took in the individual 200m just days before.
The acclaim caught him off-guard.
“I was able to go back to the States, get my head down and get back to training. But now, coming back to the UK for a few awards shows, I’ve been reminded of it,” he explains. “I’m trying to find a balance, just accepting what we’ve done but with the knowledge there is more to be achieved down the line.”
Starting in 2018 with the world indoors in Birmingham, Mitchell-blake will then compete in the Commonwealth Games in Australia and then the European Championships. Most will use the former solely as a tune-up. Outdoors is where it’s at. And patience is not his virtue.
“I’m 23 but why not try now and reach the top? People in the past have done it – not that I’m comparing myself to anybody else – but I believe it can be done. I want to be the best. I don’t want to be a lanefiller.” l The Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow takes place at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena on 25 February 2018. Tickets are available at www. britishathletics.org.uk/ events-and-tickets/