A RARE return to cross-country, her first such appearance for Scotland, and possibly a World Indoor Championship debut, are on the cards for Lynsey Sharp as she prepares for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.


Sharp and Laura Muir have been named by Scotland for a 4 x 1000 metres relay in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country at Holyrood on January 9, and European and Commonwealth 800m silver medallist Sharp is already preparing, in Boston with coach Rana Reider.


"I really like cross-country," she says, "but the thing that puts me off is that it's always really long. However, this is short and I never really get to race in Edinburgh. It will break up the winter, but I'm sure it will be a shock to the system."


It's her first cross-country in more than three years, and according to official records, only the ninth of her career.


Sharp spent Thanksgiving with US stablemate Morgan Uceny, former World 1500m No.1, but trained twice. She is at peak training volume - 35 miles per week, modest compared to rivals. She will be in the gym at Harvard today, and doing short hill runs "to keep speed ticking over".


She has no designs on a Worldcross place. "It's not about that - just a bit of a novelty and something to aim for in the winter.


"World Indoors? There's nothing set in stone. I'll see what shape I'm in. An indoor season is so there's not such a gap between end of last season and next. It takes time to get back into racing mode.


"I'm just putting my toe in the water. I don't want to get sucked in to the World Indoor. I'm not writing it off. If I think I'm in good shape, and could contend for a medal - great, but I don't have my heart set on it."


Denied the 2012 European 800m title by Russian dope cheat Yelena Arzhakova, Sharp finally received her gold medal 19 months later. She said: "I'm pleased at the suspension of Russia, but I hope it is not just window-dressing."


She fears they will be back for the Olympics. "Russia is not going to fix it. It needs to be done for them. They are not capable of administering an anti-doping system themselves."


The World Anti-Doping Agency yesterday reported a first "constructive meeting" with a delegation headed by Russia's sports minister.


Sharp's scepticism is unsurprising, her anger predictable, yet she is keen it should not distract her.


London Olympic gold and bronze medallists, Mariya Savinova and Yekaterina Poistogova, are now suspended, "They beat me a number of times. How many bonuses did I miss out on? How much prize money have I missed? It's not just the medals - it's earnings."


For more than a year Sharp was denied invitations and appearance fees which Arzhakova got by cheating: "my livelihood, and it can never be made up. Yes, it's infuriating. You just accept going into races knowing the result may change in a few years.


"I've spent time getting annoyed and stressed about it, but if I spend my time stressing about something outwith my control, it takes away from my performance. Yes, it annoys me, and yes, I like speaking out about it, being an advocate for clean sport.


"But if my whole life was about that, I could not focus on what I need to do. I do think it's important that athletes stand up against doping, but I think a positive mind is a positive life. So I focus on being positive."


That is challenged, however, by fears that undetected cheats, though now off drugs, could carry the benefits forward to Rio. How effective is testing in Russia now?


"I talk about it because I don't want it swept under the carpet, but I don't want to be caught up in it 24/7. I don't want to be the person everyone turns to for an opinion."


Though she failed to reach the world final in Beijing this summer, Lynsey believes she should have medalled. "Time-wise, I don't think it will take much more in Rio, but I have to make the final."
Her Scottish record (1min 57.71sec) is the third quickest ever by a Brit. "The only thing that will satisfy me is a medal."


Sharp and Muir are Scotland's highest ranked athletes, respectively sixth in the world at 800m and fifth at 1500m. Two men to complete the Holyrood quartet have yet to be named, but with Guy Learmonth, Jake Wightman, Cameron Boyek, Shaun Wyllie, and Chris Watson available, the hosts will field a strong team. Chris O'Hare (also in Boston) is unavailable, but other US-based Scots may be in contention.


SEB COE's decision to sever links with Nike, reportedly worth $100,000 a year, is overdue. Their sponsorship of convicted drug cheat Justin Gatlin and use of sweat-shop labour compromised Coe's stance on the moral high ground. Potential conflict of interest once he became president of the International Association of Athletics Federations was self-evident to all but him.


However, those who condemn Coe's failure to identify alleged misconduct by his predecessor, Lamine Diack, are being unfair. Apart from the annual three-day autumn IAAF council meeting in Monaco, it's unlikely that in eight years as vice president Coe was in the IAAF offices much more than a handful of times. Council has no day-to-day management role. Headquarters staff were far better placed to monitor Diack. The IAAF constitution gives the president total charge of contract negotiations. He did not even have to consult executive board colleagues. That must change.