Medal count reaches 10 in Birmingham as Will, Neil and Guy land golds

Sunday 19th February 2023

Guy Learmonth didn’t let traffic congestion delay the latest gold medal moment in his athletics journey – on a day when Scots beat a regular path to the British Indoor Champs podium.

Three medals had been gathered on Saturday and a significant seven more were to follow on a fine Sunday afternoon.

High jumper Will Grimsey set the tone and endurance athletes carried the baton with further golds for Guy at 800m – his fourth Indoor title and 11th medal overall in these champs – and Neil Gourley at 1500m.

There was silver for Jenny Selman at 800m and bronzes for Carys McAulay (400m), Erin Wallace (1500m) and Eloise Walker (30000m).

Learmonth and Gourley are now selected for the European Indoors in Turkey with Laura Muir set to join them.

It was a good weekend overall for the Scots in Birmingham with the likes of teenager Dean Patterson impressing in the sprints and two pole vault medals on Saturday for Reuben Nairne and Ewan Bradley.

With Alisha Rees a bronze medallist at 60m, it means only in the 200m and the sprint hurdles did Scottish women miss the podium on the track.

‘This week has been difficult as since I came back from Europe I have been under the weather,’ said Guy, who won in 1:47.43.

‘It took me over eight hours to get to Birmingham today because of traffic, so it wasn’t ideal.

‘I wanted to come out and run very hard from the get go and my main aim was to close out the race as strong as I possibly could. So all things considered I’m pretty happy.

‘Training has been going really well at the moment, my group is based over in Melbourne and my coach and training group have been so great the last few months.’

Neil Gourley stamped his class on the Men’s 1500m final with a fine performance.

He was tracking George Mills throughout and then surged beyond the Englishman over the closing lap to come home in 3:41.2o.

‘It was nice and controlled and I was happy with the way I closed the last 150m,’ said Neil.

‘The season has been going really well. We’ve worked a lot out in Flagstaff on getting stronger, I’ve done a lot of aerobic work and trained a little bit more like a 5km guy if anything just to try to catch up with the way the 1500m is being run in the world right now.’

There was a sixth place for Cambuslang athlete, Jamie MacKinnon, in that race with an indoor PB. Stephen Mackay was ninth and Ben Greenwood tenth.

Eloise Walker claimed a bronze medal in the Women’3 3000m final. The Commonwealth Games athlete clocked 9:00.53 as Welsh athlete, Melissa Courtney-Bryant, took gold.

‘I feel good, I was hoping to run a faster time, so to run just outside the European standard is a bit frustrating,’ said Eloise.

‘But I’m happy with the bronze medal because I wasn’t really expecting to medal.

Erin Wallace made a lot of the running in the Women’s but had to settle for bronze as Ellie Baker won in a Championship Best.

Erin, second last year, made a big effort to try and get the European qualifying time but just missed out as she clocked at 4:09.22. Hannah Anderson of East Kilbride AC was seventh in that final with an indoor PB.

Jenny Selman took silver this year (after gold last year) in the Women’s 800m final.

‘I’m very pleases with the way I raced today and to come away with a medal against the strong field that was out there makes it that much sweeter,’ said the Fife AC athlete, who clocked 2:03.68, with Jill Cherry in sixth place.

‘The new track is quick, so I think there will be some speedy times here next week in Birmingham.’

In the field, there was a gold medal for Team Scotland athlete, Will Grimsey, in the high jump.

‘That was rusty for a season opener, but I’m pleased to have got the win,’ said Will, who cleated 2.16m.

‘I need to go back into training and then just see what happens outdoors, hopefully with consistent training I can try to make the team for Budapest.

‘Again with some good training, heights should be a better than today so hopefully I can put myself in the mix for that and try and win the British Championships as well.

‘It’s great to be back in Birmingham and see another crowd after the Commonwealth Games and it was good to be back inside in front of the Birmingham crowd.’

Dean Patterson put together three good runs as he reached the final of the Men’s 200m.

The teenager was joined in that final by Kilbarchan AAC’s Krishawn Aiken. Dean duly finished fourth in 21.78 with Krishawn fifth in 22.12. Murray Fotheringham was a wee bit unlucky to miss that final after finishing second in his semi, but not fast enough to go through.

In the women’s shot there was a fifth place for Teddy Tchoudja and eighth for Amy Kennedy. Claire McGarvey was eighth in the high jump.

Nikki Manson finished fifth in the long jump, although unfortunately had to withdraw through injury. Ben Potrykus was ninth in the 3000m.

Well done to all the Scottish athletes and their coaches and support teams who travelled to Birmingham and competed in the British Indoors.

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Tags: Birmingham, British Indoor Champs