Athletics: Athens success inspired Olympic dreams for Lynsey Sharp

Wednesday 8 August 2012

L ynsey Sharp wasn't even in the same room as a televsion when the woman she would wish to emulate was nearing her finest moment.

Lynsey Sharp begins her 800m campaign today

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Mark Woods

As Kelly Holmes – already with one Olympic victory to her name – stood on the starting line in Athens, there was only indifference in Edinburgh as other priorities held sway.

"I was getting ready for a school disco at a friend's house," Sharp recalls. "Her mum and my mum were watching. They were screaming at me: 'you need to come and watch this. This is a moment of history.'"

Reluctantly, she came through. It proved prescient. "I was just blown away that she'd got two golds, and thinking someone else British could do that."Eight years on and it is the young Scot's turn to create inspirational moments. She will run in the heats of the 800 metres this morning with her own pedigree firmly established following a stunning late surge to claim a silver medal in June's European Championships.Her path here was not without controversy, after UK Athletics selectors opted for form over time in the wake of her triumph at the trials, choosing Sharp for the Olympics ahead of a number of rivals with quicker personal bests. Those closest to her, including her parents Cameron and Carol who are both former athletes, urged to her to avoid the subsequent fray. Instead, she has gone through a deliberately low key build-up to London, guided by her coach Dave Sutherland. Theirs is an unusual arrangement. He is based on Tyneside while she retains her training base at Meadowbank. "It's not ideal," she admits. "Mum is like my assistant coach. I've got a couple of guys I run with as well. But if you can't do it on your own in training, how can you do it in a race?" Last winter, Sutherland guided his charge entirely by phone and email. "But he came out to Portugal in April and that was the first time he'd seen me," she declares. "He didn't say much but he was happy."Having completed her law degree, the option to re-locate is now open. No decision will be taken until after London, which has become her sole focus. Even before Team GB decamped to train in seclusion in Portugal, she had prepared herself for an extended parting from her boyfriend. "He's Greek but he lives in Geneva. So I only see him occasionally." It is an unusual arrangement, she acknowledges. "We met when he was at uni. I can't just get over there during the season. I went there in March but that's it until we go on holiday at the end of the year. But he understands that."It has helped that her parents have been there and have got the souvenir t-shirts to prove it. Father Cameron, whose career was curtailed by a bus crash, competed in his sprinting pomp at the Moscow Games of 1980. He cannot travel to London. His injuries still cause undue fatigue. But he has offered his daughter some sage advice."My Dad said this: 'there's nothing like an Olympic Games'. No matter how much you prepare for it, you can't take it in. Michael Johnson talked to us about a home games. To know that before you get there helps a lot so that you don't walk in and completely get overwhelmed."

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Athletics: Athens success inspired Olympic dreams for Lynsey Sharp

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