Maura Luir wrote:
And yes, I am Scottish and very proud of our athletics' history.
It's just that there is no reasonable explanation for this!
But Laura is not racing Butchart, who's not racing Hawkins...
I will be happy to know what triggered this! I coach young athletes and I want to know what is happening here so that I can pass it on to them.[/quote]
If you really were a Scottish athletics coach you would have been on the extensive coach education programme they have been running for the last few years where you would not only have met other coaches but had all this explained to you.
If you were a Scottish athletics coach, you would know that Scottish athletes do hard track sessions two or three times a week. As in really hard. As in most athletes couldn't take that kind of training, in that kind of weather, but as in when theres a big group of them and smaller groups split into similar ability levels and encouragement from volunteers and helpers, then you would know how its achieved.
You would know that how in a small country there is a very well organised racing scene, with clear progression from school/club level athletics to district and national level, with cross country and athletics leagues -a lot of racing in a small area.
You would know about the history of athletics in Scotland, and the expertise and dedication that produced athletes like Liz McColgan (and that both Laura Muir and Eilish McColgan come from the same club as her), Tom McKean, Yvonne Murray, and many top marathon runners 20 or so years ago.
But mainly, its the tough, regular training and hard interval/track sessions coupled with tempo runs, excellent coaching and great peer support.
I'd be far more worried about someone who claims to be an athletics coach getting near young athletes who doesn't know this than whether someone with the stride turnover and perfect, non-energy wasting conversion of energy into forward momentum like Laura Muir is clean or not, just because her skin is white and not brown.