‘Keep working hard through lows and tough times’ – Taylah and Alessandro

Wednesday 13th August 2025

Alessandro Schenini on top of the UK Champs podium for Men’s Long Jump (photo Izzy Brider)

It is the nature of sport that participants experience highs and lows.

This happens year in, year out at whatever the level and athletics, arguably, is even tougher with a strong emphasis on the individual – rather than a team. There really is no hiding place on the track or in the field.

So it was good to hear a couple of our top Scottish athletes at the UK Champs in Birmingham reference the resilience required to succeed.

Orkney sprinter Taylah Paterson and Glasgow-based long jumper Alessandro Schenini have different backgrounds but are in agreement in one regard – sticking with it through the hard times makes later success even sweeter.

‘Just keep at it in the highs and the lows,’ said Taylah, after two 100m PBs in the Alexander Stadium.

‘The lows can be tough, I have to be honest about that. But you have to stick at it. It makes it worthwhile when you run PBs or do well.

‘Winter training? It makes you stronger. Sometimes in Orkney I am fighting against wind and awful weather conditions but, as I say, you have to push through, enjoy and improve.’

A mother and a midwife, Taylah is having a summer for the ages with four gold medals at the Island Games – hosted by Orkney – and still chasing sprinting improvement.

‘I knew I was in PB shape,’ she smiled, after finishing fourth in her Women’s 100m semi-final. Taylah is coached by Eoghan MacNamara.

‘I was hoping to run 11.70 today so to get 11.66 in the heats and then make that 11.65 in the semi-finals feels brilliant.

‘My confidence is high after the Island Games. It was a home Games for me and an unbelievable experience to be part of that never mind the medals which then came my way.

‘All my family and friends were out to watch me and watch the Island Games athletics.’

Alessandro, if anything, was on even more of a high as his first round 7.85m leap brought gold in the Men’s Long Jump.

‘It is a massive one to tick off – gold in the British Champs,’ he told us in Birmingham.

‘I won bronze in the British Indoors this year so have improved on that and it is a great 2025 for me.

‘I will get to the Commonwealth Games standard at 7.89m eventually! Hopefully that happens at the Scottish Senior Champs and Grangemouth has been good to me before.’

Now coached by Alastair Strange, Alessandro and fellow Scots Stephen Mackenzie – fifth at the World Unis recently – and Murray Fotheringham have, er, raised the bar for Scottish long jumpers.

But the British champion underlined success is never a straight upward line on the athletics graph.

‘When you win medals, it is the best feeling in the world. Winning here and being the podium, doing photos and interviews, it feels like the perfect day.

‘It makes the downs, and these happen in sport, more bearable and worth it. You just have to keep working hard.’