Zoey Clark plans to seize the chance to impress UK Athletics selectors in Lille this weekend to strengthen her claim for a world championship berth.
The 22-year-old Aberdonian is set for a senior debut at the European Team Championships which begin tonight with the event being used as a dress rehearsal for the women’s 4x400 relay line-up ahead of their global tilt in London in August.
With the Olympic bronze medallists set for a shake-up, Clark – now ranked No.1 over 400m in the UK – will likely get an opportunity to prove her worth.
And with an individual spot at the worlds also in her sights, the Scot stands on the verge of pushing herself into the frame of potential performers at the 2020 Olympics in three years' time.
“I really hope so,” she said. “I’ve progressed pretty steadily but if I continue with that, Tokyo will be the aim. Even this season, I’ve brought down my personal best but I still feel there’s more. And if that goes on, I’m not far off the territory where Olympics will be on my mind.”
Clark is among five Scots gathered in northern France, including her two relay colleagues Eilidh Doyle and Kirsten McAslan, with steeplechaser Lennie Waite and Jake Wightman in the 1500m also in top form.
"This might be my biggest stage since the Commonwealth Games in 2014," Clark concedes, when Scotland’s dismal relay showing proved a turning point in her approach to the sport.
“Commonwealths in Glasgow was a big learning curve for me,” she said. “It was so different, having thousands of people watching and we didn’t do very well. But it was a turning point, being at a home Games. I consciously tried to use that disappointment as a motivation.”
Doyle will be among the first Britons in action this evening in the heats of the 400m hurdles.
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