The fear amid the highheidyins of Scottish athletics was that many of their best prospects would treat last summer's Commonwealth Games as a vertical scaled but then fail to notice the summits beyond.
Reaching the 800 metres final in Glasgow was remarkable, Guy Learmonth declares, but it was to be treated merely as a scree to traverse before ascending onward. The 22-year-old Borderer knows the path to the apex is fraught with peril. It is a climb not for the frail and faint-hearted.
After reaching his first major championship finale in March's European Indoors, Learmonth embraced the need for further toil rather than seeking repose. Which is why, rather than opting for the familiar surroundings of his base at Loughborough University, he accepted an invitation to join the man who currently looks down on his chosen event from upon high.
Come train with me, suggested Nijel Amos, the brilliant young Botswanan who displaced world record holder David Rudisha from his perch by triumphing at the Commonwealths, and elsewhere. In Potchefstroom, some 90 minutes outside Johannesburg, Amos is now embedded within an ecosystem overseen by coach Jan Verster, one which has attracted a range of leading performers including Caster Semenya and Christine Ohuruogu.
Having placed his immediate future in the hands of former European silver medallist Rob Denmark while continuing to lean on long-time mentor Henry Gray, Learmonth migrated south with a vague programme in hand. "But the intensity was seriously high especially with them gearing up for the South African Championships.
"The first two weeks were really hard. But the third week was probably the best because I'd acclimatised and got a feel for the training. And my body adjusted quickly which I was happy with. It wasn't a shock. It's what I'd expected. But it showed me the hard work you need and it proved to me that I can keep up which was a confidence boost."
The sweat is a price worth paying, he notes. The dividends will be expected to appear during a summer season that starts tonight in Ghent at the Flanders Cup and will finish, the Scot hopes, at the world championships in Beijing. To make an imprint, he will need to reduce his median times to under one minute and 45 seconds.
Amos, in some respects, has given his challenger an attractive blueprint. "He loves to party but he works hard as well," Learmonth laughs. "I couldn't quite keep up with him partying and I didn't try to. But I enjoyed every moment of the experience and I want to do more of that."
On the European circuit, reputations open doors. His spring success has served up invitations into a number of early season events, including the Diamond League in Birmingham. Do well in those, and demands for appearances will rise in tandem with the fees on offer.
The challenges come thick and fast. On Tuesday, he will face Rudisha once again in Ostrava. "I need to get my legs going before then because you don't want to get caught off-guard with Rudisha. If I go in blind, I'll suffer. And I don't want to come out slow and be running round in 1:47. I want to take it to the next level."
A number of Scots have travelled to Belgium with similar goals. Emily Dudgeon, a winner in Loughborough last weekend, steps up in class in the 800m. While Andy Butchart, chosen for a GB&NI track debut in the European Cup over 10000m, is slated to resume his domestic contest with Callum Hawkins.
Learmonth is a notch ahead of the trio. But he cannot afford to stand still. "Now I want to consistently run 1:46, 1:45 and establish myself as the best in Britain and one of the best in Europe. I want people to be frightened of me and feel they need to show me respect because I can do some damage. The indoor season showed I can do some of it but the rest might take years."
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