The main attraction at the Scottish Indoor Championships yesterday sat quietly in the back row of Section F at the Kelvin Hall, opting for designer chic over high street lycra.
As a model, presenter and occasional actress, Kelly Brook is used to mugging up for the camera lens. For her boyfriend, however, the scrutiny was a much more pressurised affair.
There was always a danger of over-expectation for Thom Evans, making his first significant sporting appearance since the serious neck injury that ended his rugby career. Watched on by his A-List other half, he looked a little anxious when he lined up in the heats of the 60 metres, his metamorphosis into a track athlete still in its early stages.
Creditably, the former Scotland winger qualified for the final, albeit as a fastest loser. There, he emerged without disgrace, finishing fourth in 7.20 seconds behind Northern Irishman Dean Adams. "I was hoping to make the final but this is a great achievement for me and I'll take what I can from it," he said.
This was just a test after three months of training in Guildford. "We weren't even sure if he'd like this," said Margot Wells, his coach. Evans' enthusiasm is undimmed, though. He will know that hard labour lies ahead if he is to make the grade. "My goal is just train as I have been so far and see where I am in the summer," he said. "That will give me an indication if I've got a chance at any major event."
Appropriately, it was another part-time model, Jayne Nisbet, who produced one of the performances of the day, clearing 1.80m to retain her high jump title. Chris Baillie, the 2006 Commonwealth Games medallist, also won his first Scottish 60m hurdles title for ten years.
Meanwhile, Guy Learmonth will wait anxiously for news when UK Athletics selectors meet today to finalise their squad for next month's world indoor championships in Istanbul. The 19-year-old pressed his case with a new 800m best of 1:47.84 at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday, inside the UKA qualifying time.
He was compelled along by world-class field, including Mohamed Aman whose victory was a new Ethiopian record. Sharing such elite company has only served to spur Learmonth on.
"It makes me want to work even harder so that 12 months down the line I'm even closer to them," he said. "To get a personal best and the world indoor time is great."
Despite winning the trials in Sheffield, Claire Gibson is likely to miss out on a place in Turkey after running the 1500m 79-hundredsth of a second short of the qualifying time. Jessica Ennis had a better day after recording the quickest time in the world this year over the 60m hurdles, while Mo Farah set a new European record over two miles as he finished second.
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