As he heads into what is likely to be the biggest summer of his life, something feels different for Guy Learmonth.

The difference is an almost imperceptible sense rather than a material change but it’s just as well he feels differently from usual because if Learmonth is to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian, he’s going to have to produce a performance over the next few months the like of which he’s never mustered before.

For many, needing to run faster than ever at the age of 32 would be a daunting prospect.

But far from being daunted, Learmonth is instead convinced that he’s on the brink of having his best-ever summer.

“I feel different and I feel like I’m running differently too, the 800m specialist says.

“In training, I’ve been knocking out some insane sessions and I’ve been repeating sessions I’ve done previously and I’m ahead of where I’ve ever been before which is massive for my confidence. You can’t argue with the watch so the times I’m running are proof I’m in a good place.”

The 2024 outdoor season may still be in its infancy but Learmonth has already had an eventful year, to put it mildly.

In February, the Berwick upon Tweed man found himself in the eye of what turned out to be a quite monumental storm following his omission from GB’s team for the World Indoor Championships, which took place in Glasgow at the start of March.

Despite having met World Athletics’ qualification criteria, UK Athletics declined to include him in the British team, something Learmonth was understandably irate about, which he aired in detail in these very pages.

A media furore ensued and the great and the good of the sport chipped in to comment on Learmonth’s omission, including multiple Olympic champion and legend of the sport, Michael Johnson, with countless observers expressing their support for the Scot and lambasting UK Athletics for its decision to leave him on the sidelines.

And so while Learmonth is adamant that he doesn’t want to go into this summer with the explicit aim of proving wrong those who failed to select him for the World Indoors team, there is extra fire in his belly following the controversy.

“I don’t want to use what happened to me as my main motivation because I don’t feel like that’s a healthy thing to do but definitely something feels like it’s changed – something has reignited inside of me,” he says.

“It was a tough time and it was exhausting but it made me realise the people around me really believe in me. Athletics is such a selfish sport but I had so many people come together to support me and actually, this isn’t a lonely sport at all.

"It really motivated me to think stuff it, I’m doing this.

"But now, I’ve parked everything and my full focus is on the summer and doing everything I can to qualify for Paris.

Learmonth’s Olympic campaign begins in anger today, when he opens his season in Barcelona.

The four-time British Indoor 800m champion goes into this summer knowing that if he’s to make it into the GB team for the Paris Olympics, which begin in just over two months, two things are for certain; he must run faster than he’s ever run before and he must meet every criteria necessary in order to take any doubt over selection out of the selectors’ hands.

The Herald:

That means he must run under the Olympic qualifying time of 1 minute 44.70 seconds as well as finish in the top two in the 800m final at next month’s British Championships, which double as the Olympic trials.

After what he describes as an “amazing” pre-season training camp, led by his coach Justin Rinaldi, Learmonth is supremely confident that after a number of years talking about what he’s going to achieve, he’s now ready to actually do it.

And he has his sights set on far more than merely scraping under the qualification standard, he’s looking to obliterate both his current personal best of 1 minute 44.73 seconds, set in 2018, as well as the British Olympic qualification standard.

“The men’s 800m is very strong in the UK so just sneaking the qualification time will likely not be enough and that’s why I’m aiming for bigger than that. I’ve had dreams of running 1:43 since I was young and I really believe I’m in the shape to do it now,” says Learmonth.

“I know I need to have the qualification time and be top two at the trials to make sure I take any decision out of the selectors’ hands.

“I don’t want to even think about the qualifying time, though, because even though it’s in the back of my mind, I don’t want to cap my ambitions at 1:44.7 – I want to be thinking bigger than that. 

“To run 1:43 I’ll need four or five big races because it’s a mega time but I really believe I can manage it.”