Jamie Bowie, the world indoor relay silver medallist, insists success will not go to his head.
The 24-year-old Scot says he will stay loyal to his boyhood club rather than accept a lucrative switch down south.
Bowie, who has flown to the United States for a warm-weather training camp, has become a hot commodity after he justified his inclusion in the Great Britain & Northern Ireland 400x400m team for the World Indoor Championships in Poland.
He has had offers from a number of leading English clubs but will remain with Inverness Harriers, saying he would rather miss out on the money on offer than let down the next generation of athletes who have been cheering on his rise to prominence over the past 12 months.
"Normally the bigger clubs cover all your expenses, so that can mean not having to pay your way to competitions," Bowie said. "I went with Glasgow City to a few events last year which was great but I still have Inverness as my main club, and that's something I like because I want to make sure I'm able to be a role model up there.
"Mine was Lesley Clarkson, who I watched and admired. When you can see those people on TV, and then watch them train, it allows you to see you can make that same step up with the same coaches."
Bowie, who normally trains at Pitreavie, believes his stay in Florida can help him prepare to chase the 400m qualifying time for the Commonwealth Games, with the possibility of two early races across the Atlantic to kickstart his bid.
The Highlander believes the presence of his coach Piotr Haczek, who recently relocated to Scotland after three years in his native Poland, can help guide him to a personal best this summer.
"He makes a huge difference," Bowie said. "I did have that worry about how I could step up this year and how much more I could do. You have those added pressures and expectations when you've been to a global championships and get only Lottery funding. It's been reassuring for me having Piotr there and being able to develop the things I need to progress."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article