Scots will travel hopefully . . .

Thursday 12th February 2015

Good opportunity for athletes – Rodger Harkins

A host of our top athletes will head for Sheffield this weekend looking to repeat recent Scottish impact on the British Champs.

The British Indoors event, over two days on Saturday and Sunday, has been a happy hunting ground of late with no fewer than 17 medals landed.

Nine were won in 2013 in the best tally by Scottish athletes as a collective group since 1995 and last year there were eight Scots on the podium.

And hopes will be high again this year albeit that the absentees include Eilidh Child, Lynsey Sharp and Chris O’Hare – our three medallists at the European Champs in Zurich last August.

The British Champs are being screened live online by VincoSport so you will be able to check out how Scottish athletes are faring with the Champs starting on Saturday morning.

Laura Muir races the 1500m this weekend and is looking for a third British title after winning at that distance in 2013 and then over 800m a year ago.

Scotland’s other medallists back in 2014 were silvers for O’Hare, Jayne Nisbet, Josephine Moultrie, Guy Learmonth and Ryan Oswald and bronzes for Kirsty Yates and Allan Smith.

With 2.25m clearances at the Scottish Seniors, both Allan and David Smith should be very much in podium contention in the high jump as they chase the 2.29 qualifying height for the Euro Indoors. Ray Bobrownicki has been in good form, too.

On current form, others likes of Yates, Learmonth, Moultrie, Sarah Warnock, Jamie Bowie, Chukwudi Onyia and Kirsten McAslan can harbour realistic hopes of making a really good impression on the Champs while for many the target will be a place in the final, a PB or a Season’s Best ahead of the outdoor track and field season.

Director of Coaching Rodger Harkins said: ‘I am sure a number of Scottish athletes will be looking forward to this weekend as an important stage in their indoor seasons.

‘It is another good opportunity for some of those who are our best athletes, and others who are aspiring to that level, to measure themselves in British competition.

‘In some events, they will be trying to progress through rounds and compete over two days and that’s another aspect of it – especially for our younger ones who can pick up that championship experience element.

‘I think the men’s high jump competition at the Scottish Senior Indoors was an excellent competition and those three guys would love to take that form into Sheffield and carry it on. Allan, David and Ray will have been pleased with their clearances that day while knowing as well that there may be even more to come from them.

‘So I think that could be one event well worth looking at from a Scottish perspective and of course we wish all athletes and coaches all the very best for the weekend across all the events.

‘It is always an event which acts as a nice marker for athletes on how winter training and indoor performances have gone and can be an indication for what’s up ahead during the 2015 track and field season.’

All the start-lists for Sheffield are online on the British Athletics website.

If you want to read how the Scots fared last year, check out our old website.

And there is a preview piece covering the return to Sheffield of a number of 2014 champions online on the British Athletics website.

Tags: Allan Smith, British Indoor Champs, David Smith, Guy Learmonth, Jamie Bowie, Josephine Moultrie, Kirsty Yates, Laura Muir, Ray Bobrownicki, Rodger Harkins, Sarah Warnock, Sheffield