WATCH: Giving Back to Track – our superb new film with Tom McKean

Tuesday 8th April 2025

Photo: Urbane Media

By Peter Jardine, Head of Communications

Three decades on from his global glory moment at the 1993 World Indoors, Tom McKean is finding further contentment in his athletics – by giving back to track.

The Olympian and fondly remembered 800m runner is taking the first steps on his coaching journey after a long career in the police.

Tom has returned to his roots via Motherwell AC, teaming up with fellow coaches like Ewen Cameron, with the Lanarkshire club on a parallel development path.

And now the story of his move towards helping inspire others, and the club’s holistic approach to coaching individual athletes and developing our sport overall is to be told in a special short documentary commissioned by Scottish Athletics.

Urbane Media videographer and story-teller par excellence, Calum McCready, has already shone a light on Zoey Clark, wheelchair racer Joanna Robertson and Princeton-based Scottish thrower, Angela McAuslan-Kelly,

This time Calum looks at a wider story based around the joy of coaching and an ambitious and progressive approach to club development by Motherwell AC.

Starting in the 1980s, Tom had an impressive career at elite level including that World Indoors gold in Canada in 1993.

In recent years, after retiring from Police Scotland, he felt ready to give something back . . .

Memory Lane: Tom McKean remembers his 1993 World Indoors gold

Athletics Weekly feature

‘I retired 18 months ago and I was running with my wife at Motherwell AC and they said ‘Why don’t you start coaching again? We’d love to have you at the club’,’ he smiled.

‘The partnership quickly evolved and very soon they had me hooked and they wouldn’t let me go.

‘Being a coach, I’m trying to create dreams, ambitions and goals for young people. To set them on their way in life.

‘Life is tough for kids and they need to deal with joy, disappointment, underachieving, over-achieving. And I think, we give them that in a safe environment.

‘We give them sessions and whether they win or fail, we always find a positive with it. And, hopefully, the kids they take it with them to the outside world.

Officials and coaches just want to help young athletes – Tom McKean

‘I can see that the more I put in, the more they’re giving me back.

‘If I can get their dreams and aspirations and give them some motivation to succeed on their own and the will to be a better person then I feel I’ve done a good job.

‘It’s not just about winning and losing, it is about instilling values into these young people they can take with them every day of their life.

‘And if I can still have these people making any sport – not just running – a lifestyle choice, then I’m creating a healthier environment for them. Maybe some of them can be the person that brings on the next generation of people. So we are trying to create a legacy that hopefully this club will carry forward for the future.

‘At the end of the day, if one person does well, they all seem to enjoy it. We all enjoy it. And if somebody has a bit of heartache, we’re there to support them.’

Toronto photo by Mark Shearman

Fellow coach Ewen Cameron, a well-known figure across our sport who worked for scottishathletics some time ago and is now with sportscotland, echoed Tom’s ethos.

Ewen underlined the Motherwell AC approach as seeking to coach athletes as people and to focus on the overall development of the individual.

‘I’ve been involved in athletics for 40 years with a lifelong love of the sport,’ said Ewen.

‘You get into it, you find a love for it, you find a passion for our sport.

‘I think as a coach you want to help people. You want to give something back. Each coach in the club brings something different to the table as well.

‘We’ve this guy who won a World Indoors gold medal and he’s been to the Olympics. Tom brings so much knowledge and experience, and we joke about it, but the truth is we all learn so much from that.

‘There are other coaches who bring a different perspective; they all bring different experience or outlook. And I think we all try to impart some knowledge just to try and help people.’

Photo by Urbane Media

‘I’m really proud to be part of the club. It’s an honour to be a volunteer as a coach.

‘I think, for me, Motherwell Athletics Club is like a family. You meet some amazing people. I’ve friends here that I’ve met through the club who will be friends for life.

‘As coaches, sometimes we have to redefine what winning is.

‘It’s not just about medals. Now, the beauty of our sport is you can win without being on the podium.

‘I think everybody that steps out there puts themselves on the line for cross country, or steps onto the track, can go on and achieve great things.

‘When I see a child getting a Personal Best, I’m so proud for them and I’m so delighted for them. We all give up our time and I think it’s a huge privilege and it’s not one that I think you can take lightly.’

Photo by Bobby Gavin

In the film, Tom draws on his own career to explain why giving YOUR best is what should matter in athletics.

‘My advice is: if you give 100 percent then you can walk off a track, or walk off a cross country race, or walk off a training session and say ‘I’ve done the best I can’,’ he said.

‘Then, to me, you can’t ask for any more.

‘Once I ran in the final of the European Championships and I finished second. But I couldn’t have done anything better.

‘I couldn’t have run any quicker, I couldn’t have been in better positions. I finished second because Seb Coe beat me on the line. But I had given 100 percent and should have been happy with the result – and I was happy with the result.’

A Masters athlete himself, Ewen stressed there are no rules about when, how, and how long folk can contribute to our sport: competing, coaching, volunteering.

‘I think a sport like athletics is one that you can do all your life,’ he added.

‘You can come into it as a child; you can dip out of it, you can come back. Quite simply, our sport is for everyone.’