#SALdohadozen All set for IAAF World Champs

Wednesday 25th September 2019

Stephen Maguire believes Scottish athletes making finals at the IAAF World Champs in Doha would under-line their quality.

The GB and NI team have been in Dubai to prepare for the big event with, of course, no fewer than a round dozen Scots involved in the overall 73-strong British team.

It could be a career highlight for a handful or more and Maguire, Director of Performance and Coaching with scottishathletics, is fervently hoping Scots can put themselves into medal contention on the track.

‘It is getting harder and harder to get into global events like the Worlds and Olympics because the bar is being pushed up. So every single athlete selected by GB and NI merits this big moment in their careers.

‘We won’t rest on our laurels or be complacent. The athletes and coaches now preparing for Doha must be having making finals and competing for medals as their focus and target.

‘I would dearly love to see a decent number of these 12 making the finals in their events. There are no guarantees in sport but they are capable of it.

Here are the #SALdohadozen

Neil Gourley (1500m) (Mark Rowland) Giffnock North AC; Josh Kerr (1500m) (Danny Mackey) Edinburgh AC; Jake Wightman (1500m) (Geoff Wightman) Edinburgh AC

Andy Butchart (5000m) Central AC

Callum Hawkins (Marathon) (Robert Hawkins) Kilbarchan AAC

Beth Dobbin (200m, 4x400m) (Leon Baptiste) Edinburgh AC

Zoey Clark (4x400m) (Eddie McKenna) Aberdeen AAC

Lynsey Sharp (800m) (David Harmer) Edinburgh AC

Laura Muir (1500m) (Andy Young) Dundee Hawkhill Harriers; Jemma Reekie (1500m) (Andy Young) Kilbarchan AAC

Eilish McColgan (5000m, 10,000m) (Liz McColgan-Nuttall) Dundee Hawkhill Harriers

Steph Twell (10,000m) Kilbarchan AAC

BBC Scotland piece with Neil Gourley

The countdown to Doha has featured extensive coverage of the Scots and we’ve added links to some of those interviews below.

Jake Wightman is one of three Scots in the Men’s 1500m and has concerns about the temperature contrast inside and outside the stadium.

‘I’m a bit worried about it,’ said Jake. ‘We’ve been told the stadium air conditioning is genuinely really good but some people say it will be 14 degrees which is cold. You could be going from 40 degrees outside at the warm-up track to 14 degrees racing and that would be tough.’

Steph Twell is ‘going it alone’ in terms of her coaching situation after previous spells under the guidance of first Mick Woods and then Geoff Wightman.

‘I have spoken to a few coaches but I haven’t used any of their stuff,’ said Steph. ‘The plans have been designed by me. I speak more to my physiologists to bounce things off them.’

Steph Twell interview in The National

Laura Muir on the fire within and her bid for Doha gold. Another blockbusting Sportsmail interview from @Redblaes pic.twitter.com/uN1lgsKPk1

— Sportsmail (@ScotMailSport) September 14, 2019

In today’s ?@ScotMailSport?, ?@BethDobbin? speaks candidly to ?@garykeown? about tackling the taboos that still exist in sport… pic.twitter.com/fcDzbwEPJ6

— Sportsmail (@ScotMailSport) September 24, 2019