Schoolboy coy about standing on top of the world
HE insists he won’t be doing so, but Cameron Tindle could walk back into school in Berwick tomorrow morning and lay claim to having beaten a world champion on his Scotland debut.
The 16-year-old sprinter — who won selection for the Sainsbury’s Glasgow International Match between Scotland, Great Britain, France and Germany thanks to winning the National Open just last weekend — found himself right in the midst of the meeting’s biggest controversy at the Emirates Arena yesterday during his 60metres race.
Everything had pointed towards a comfortable win for Britain’s Richard Kilty, racing indoors for the first time since he took the world title in Sopot last year.
But, as the crowd hushed and the tension mounted, the Englishman blinked first and his early twitch on the blocks saw him disqualified for a false start.
As if Tindle’s nerves would not have been jangling enough. But he could barely have done better when the race eventually got under way, finishing third in a personal-best time of 6.92seconds as Frenchman Emmanuel Biron won in 6.69secs.
Vital experienced gained, Tindle clearly revelled in his first taste of high-level international competition.
‘I’ve never experienced anything like this, I was just here to enjoy it — and I definitely did,’ he said. ‘I don’t tend to get distracted by things like a false start. I just keep focused on what I’m on the track to do. These things happen in athletics. You’ve got to keep focused.
‘It was a great experience for me. Getting a Scotland cap at 16 is brilliant — I have to build on this.
‘I wouldn’t say I beat the world champion! He was a bit unlucky to get disqualified. It was great just sitting in with him. And it’s unlucky because I would have liked to have raced against him. But that happens in the sport.
‘I’m going back to school on Monday in Berwick. No, I won’t be boasting about beating the world champion …’
Kilty, meanwhile, could not hide his disappointment at what unfolded, insisting: ‘I think it was a twitch rather than a false start. I would have won the race by two metres. I could have shut down halfway down the track and still won that race, so it’s a real shame.
‘I twitched a little bit and that’s all there is really. It’s just one of those things and you have to let it go.’
It might not have been Hampden, but the Scottish roar for athletics was still out in force yesterday. As with last summer’s magnificent Commonwealth Games, every home athlete was greeted with a rapturous reception.
There were many commendable performances on show, too — none more so than the one produced by Jamie Bowie, who got Scotland’s sole win of the day, in the 400m, following quite a battle with British captain Conrad Williams.
Coming from behind in the closing stages, Bowie literally fought his way past the Englishman using his elbows and brute strength to edge into first place.
‘It was a bit rough and ready, but that’s indoor racing,’ said Bowie, who clocked a season’s-best time of 47.38secs. ‘The crowd really spurred me on in the last 50m. I don’t think I’ve ever won indoors before in lane four or five. To win against Conrad is pretty special — all the more special because I’d never beaten him before and he’s the Great Britain team captain.’
There was no win in the 800m for Commonwealth finalist Guy Learmonth, who came up just short of Germany’s Robin Schembera.
‘I didn’t want to run like that at all, I wanted to get to the front but I was just a little rusty,’ he said. ‘It’s my first race and it’s blown away the cobwebs.
‘I know people are expecting a lot more from me but I expect a lot more from myself, as well. I didn’t win today but there are a lot of positives to take from it.’
Ray Bobrownicki also had reason to be pleased with his second place in the high jump, while Scotland’s men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams also enjoyed second places.
The day finished on a note of controversy, however, as the disqualification of France’s men’s 4x400m team in the final event meant Germany topped the table.
FINAL STANDINGS: Germany 50, Great Britain 49, France 49, Scotland 35.