GOING down the back straight and at the apex of the final bend, Chris O'Hare heard the Hampden roar.
Unfortunately, halfway along the final straight, it was soon followed by an equally recognisable sound in this part of Glasgow: the disappointed, anti-climactic silence. Such a soundtrack has accompanied many a Scotland international football performance at the national stadium and last night it also accompanied the efforts of the promising 23-year-old from Edinburgh, as he had to settle for sixth place in the 1500m rather than the bronze medal he felt at one stage was tantalisingly within his grasp.
After the heroics of the week, where Scotland have racked up four track-and-field medals - one gold, two silver and one bronze - to record their best result at any Commonwealth Games since 1990, the best the hosts had to show for their final night's work in this stadium was two sixth place finishes and one fifth. In monsoon conditions, you might say it was all a bit of a damp squib.
"I came down the back straight and it just erupted," said O'Hare, a devout Christian who won the prestigious NCAA mile title in 2013, having undertaken his studies in America. "I came off the bend and thought I could get a medal here. Maybe that was a bit naive of me at the time. I knew I didn't have it when I came into the last 50 and the crowd died down. I was like 'cheers, guys!' No, the crowd were fantastic, really it's such a fantastic experience and I'm just blessed to be here."
Amid such atrocious conditions on the southside, it was hard for O'Hare to maintain an entirely sunny outlook after running a time of 3.40.63secs which was fully five seconds outside his personal best. But this is still what he classes as his "learning phase". Gold and silver went to Kenya in the form of James Magut and Ronald Kwemoi respectively, with Nick Willis of New Zealand, whom O'Hare set out trying to track, nicking the bronze that he had coveted so much.
"Sixth place is sixth place," said the Scot, who is moving to Boston after his spell studying in Tulsa. "I'm not going to stand here and tell you I'm well proud of sixth place because I'm not. I'd only be happy talking to you now if I had a medal.
"The medallists today were proper class acts and I'm not a class act yet, but I'm working on it," he added. "I've only really come into my own in the last year, since the World Championships in Moscow, and I have to keep building on it. I've got to be proud of myself, whether I'm happy or not."
O'Hare had damaged a muscle months before the games, and was no better than 10th at the bell. This didn't stop him extricating himself from trouble and launching a full-blooded bid for glory. "I made my move when my gut told me to and that's all I could do," he said. "I just didn't quite have it in the last 50 metres. But I'll go to the Europeans, get a medal then go to Boston."
Someone who does have a Commonwealth 1500m bronze medal on their resume is Steph Twell, but the 24-year-old was unable to recreate those Delhi heroics here. The closest the Colchester-born athlete came to influencing the outcome of the 5,000m final was when she inadvertently got in the way of the leaders' sprint finish as she was lapped, possibly causing English runner Jo Pavey to have to settle for a bronze, rather than a silver, behind winner Mercy Cherono of Kenya. Top Scot in the event was Laura Whittle in sixth, with Beth Potter ninth, and Twell back in 14th. "I hated watching the front of the race knowing at my best I'd be competing, but it's all about trying to be as positive as possible," said Twell.
The men's 4x400m relay team had achieved a Scottish record time to reach yesterday's final, and despite another creditable outing in 3.04.07secs, Kris Robertson, Grant Plenderleith, Jamie Bowie and Greg Louden finished outside the medals in fifth place in a race won by fully five hundredths of a second by England. "That's my last race at this level - my last as a professional athlete," said the 26-year-old Robertson. "But we've three guys there who are younger and I really think they can improve - watch out for them setting PBs next season."
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