Steph Twell has signalled she is ready to chase marathon glory at next year’s Olympic Games and put the track to one side.
The European Championship and Commonwealth Games medallist made the most of a cross-country cameo by claiming the Scottish title in Falkirk on Saturday with a dominant performance.
The 29-year-old clocked 38 mins 38 secs to ease clear of Czech international Moira Stewart in Callendar Park.
But after an impressive marathon debut in Valencia last December, Twell expects her third Olympic appearance to come on the roads.
“I think running a marathon in Tokyo would be an outstanding experience,” she said. “The Japanese culture for running is huge and I think at this point in my career it really matters to me to enjoy the sport. Beyond that, it’s looking at where I can have the best impact and have the best medal performance.
“I would like to do a little bit more on the track. It’s about using this year to develop my different toolkit to be able to then hopefully dip my feet in the water for another marathon.
“If that goes a bit better and I feel like a world contender then I can make that decision for the Olympics.”
Twell, now the first athlete to ever win both the Scottish and English cross-country titles, will keep her options open for this year’s IAAF world championships in Doha by attempting to qualify for the 10,000 metres at July’s British trials at Highgate.
But she has ruled out a quick return to the marathon in London this spring, even if skipping the event forces her hand for the summer.
“Selection policy hasn’t been announced for the marathon yet so I’m going to go and race Highgate, so I might get selection that way, I don’t know. The 10k and the marathon suit each other really well.
“Valencia was a step in the right direction. It was a good performance but not a great performance. I know if I want to be a world contender then I need to be running sub 2:28 comfortably and then pushing down to sub 2:25. There’s a lot of work to do still and that excites me.
“I still want to be competitive, that’s the most important thing in my athletics career and I think most people would say the same.”
Adam Craig destroyed his rivals to win the senior men’s race in Falkirk to boost his hopes of earning a spot at next month’s world cross-country championships with Central AC claiming their ninth men’s team title in a row despite the absence of Andrew Butchart. Freddie Carcas and Eloise Walker both eased to victory in the men’s and women’s Under-20 events.
Four-time gold medallist Renaud Lavillenie, meanwhile, has pulled out of this week’s European Indoor Championships in Glasgow after the French pole vault star suffered a hamstring injury.
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