BETH DOBBIN produced a spectacular performance to become national 200m champion at the British Championships in Birmingham yesterday, smashing the Scottish record in the process.
The Edinburgh AC sprinter has been in scintillating form this season, breaking her personal best and the Scottish record a number of times in the past couple of months.
After once again breaking her personal best in the heats, Dobbin went into the final with every chance of grabbing a top-two spot which would guarantee selection for the European Championships later this summer.
With British record holder Dina Asher-Smith missing, Dobbin took the race to the rest of the field, coming back from behind in the home straight to take the title in 22.59 seconds in another new Scottish record as well a new championship record.
“It’s crazy,” the 24-year-old said.
“I’m just looking at how far I have come. Last year my aim was to make the final but this year, I knew if I ran a good race I could come away British champion. It’s a dream come true. I’ve worked so hard for this. I don’t know how it has happened when I look at some of the sprinters we have got.”
The men’s 1500m promised much and it did not disappoint. Scottish athletes have been ridiculously dominant in Britain in this event over the past few years and that monopoly on the medals continued, with Chris O’Hare successfully defending his title to lead home a Scottish 1-2-3.
Commonwealth medallist Jake Wightman led as the leaders entered the home straight but a strong finish from O’Hare saw him pip his compatriot to gold, with Neil Gourley taking bronze.
“It feels great,” said O’Hare.
“It was tough. You are standing in the call room and are thinking: ‘alright, there’s a lot of guys in here to worry about’.
“I felt great. Training has really clicked the last couple of years. It feels good to be walking away from sessions strong, rather than always having to tell myself ‘it was OK, but I will have a good one in a couple of weeks.”
There are few athletes who can boast four British titles, which was Steph Twell’s record going into this weekend. And she added a fifth national 5000m title with a strong run to cross the line in 16 minutes 7.24 seconds ahead of Wales’ Melissa Courtney, with Eilish McColgan taking bronze.
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“It’s special,” Twell said of her fifth victory.
“Today it was about retaining my title but the battle was against myself. I feel like I’m just starting my season.
“No one was making a move and I felt really comfortable so I made a bold move and I think that’s what I’m about.”
Laura Muir was equally impressive in taking her first-ever British 800m title. Muir has been most effective on the international stage in the 1500m but chose to race only the shorter distance at these British Championships.
The 25-year-old took control of the race early and showed everyone why she is one of the world’s best middle distance runners, opening up a gap on the final lap and never looking back to cross the line in 2 minutes 1.22 seconds. In the aftermath of the race, Muir confirmed she will be targeting the 800m-1500m double at the European Championships.
“I’m really happy because the strength in depth we have in the women’s 800m is so strong,” said Muir.
“I knew I had to attack the race and hold off until the end and I did that. I was feeling it in the last 50 metres but I wanted to get home in first place and I did that. I did well indoors but Berlin will be my first chance to win a senior outdoor medal.”
Scottish athletes had picked up four medals on day one and were adding to that tally with impressive regularity throughout yesterday. Kirsty Law kicked things off with silver in the discus which was quickly followed by bronze from Guy Learmonth in the 800m and Kirsten McAslan winning silver and guaranteeing European Championship selection in the 400m hurdles, which she has only recently transitioned to after coming through as a 400m runner.
In the high jump, David Smith took silver ahead of his unrelated compatriot Allan Smith, who won bronze while Jemma Reekie won a hugely impressive silver medal in the 1500m, although missed out on the qualifying time for the Europeans Championships.
The British team for the European Championships will be named in the coming days, with it likely that Scotland will, once again, have a healthy number of athletes booking their tickets to the major athletics event of the summer.
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