Scotland coaches for Loughborough International; Bennett interview

Monday 17th May 2021

Scotland team for the Loughborough International 2021

Scotland are headed south this coming weekend as the Loughborough International returns after cancellation last year.

It’s an exciting moment for a 38-strong team of athletes and scottishathletics are delighted to be able to offer this international competition opportunity.

The team will be led this weekend by Mark Pollard, our Head of Performance (Interim) with Brian Donaldson kindly stepping in to assist us in a Team Manager role.

We also welcome a number of other coaches to assist in the various event groups and offer our congratulations (and thanks) on their appointments to the Scotland team staff.

Team Leader: Mark Pollard; Team Manager: Brian Donaldson

Throws: Alison Grey and Andy Frost

Jumps: Linda Nicholson and Colin Sinclair

Endurance: Carol Sharp and Mark Pollard

Sprints, Hurdles and Relays: Francis Smith and Allan Scott

Since the publication of the team in our website announcement (last Thursday) there have been a couple of changes.

Connor Henderson is now our selection for the Men’s 400m Hurdles and Megan Keith is now our selection for the Women’s 3000m.

Congratulations to both athletes and their families, coaches and clubs.

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Chris landed silver at the European Throwing Cup in Croatia (photo via Twitter)

Athletics Weekly interview

Chris Bennett is part of our team from Loughborough and, like many athletes, has had his fair share of trials over the last 12 months – and also before that.

The hammer thrower has been speaking to Athletics Weekly about the ups and downs in his career – and why he believes he is now in the shape of his life.

On the downside, the twice Commonwealth finalist lost his main source of income due to the pandemic restrictions so had to work full-time, he ended up tipping the scales 24kg over his ideal weight and he suffered due to closed training facilities.

However, he has found peace with the weighing scales, had the perfect training build-up this winter, and is eyeing up the Tokyo qualification mark with confidence.

‘I think there’s more in there,’ said Chris, in an interview with Paul Halford for Athletics Weekly.

‘I didn’t expect to throw that far that early, so it’s quite nice. I feel like I’m in better shape than I ever was before Rio, so it’s quite exciting but quite frightening at the same time because the Olympics are just around the corner and it could be special.’

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Tags: Chris Bennett, Loughborough International