Like I was, Eilish McColgan is aiming for a fourth Olympics.
And also like I was, she’ll be thinking it could well be here last.
I had a bumpy road to get there, with a happy ending, and hopefully that’s how it plays out for Eilish as well.
Fortunately, although I had a serious problem with my hip which I knew would mean surgery after my third Games, I never had an injury which threatened my participation at an Olympics.
I was able to schedule the operation for the time that suited my career best.
Eilish didn’t have that option with her knee in the winter.
As much as she will be staying positive, dropping out halfway through her first race of the season – so close to the Olympics – is a real concern.
Distance running is such a brutal sport – physically and mentally.
I got a taste of that when I ran the London Marathon last year, as well as during all the training I did.
You’re alone with your own thoughts, step after step after step.
That would have been happening with Eilish in the European Championships in Rome on Tuesday night – trying to compute why she wan’t feeling great, figuring out whether dropping out would be the right or wrong thing to do and what the implication of both scenarios would be.
Given she and Megan Keith are the only two Brits with the Olympic qualifying standard for the 10,000 metres, I’m sure she’ll be selected.
Eilish will set her own goals if she gets to France.
Before then I hope her body puts her in a position where she can have a good shot at achieving them.
I curled against Germany on plenty of occasions but I never competed in the country.
A trip with the pipe band when I was young is my one memory of travelling to that part of Europe!
Fussen is the biggest curling area and I would imagine there will be some Scotland fans basing themselves there because it’s not too far from Munich.
It looks like the perfect country to host the European Championships and, for people of my age who can’t remember anything about the France ’98 World Cup, it’s great to finally have a tournament abroad to look forward to that we’re a part of.
I’ll leave it to others to predict how Steve Clarke’s team will get on but I do believe that getting the biggest team in the group first up is a good thing.
I certainly got a lot of experience of that down the years.
Better to get settled into the competition and get rid of the nerves in a match you’re not expected to win.
There’s never a free hit in sport but there’s no doubt that there’s more pressure on the host nation than Scotland.
I’m off to Birmingham next week for Team GB Olympics kitting out day.
I’ve got a managerial role with the Ambition Program, which aims to develop prospects for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
It will be nice to get some summer gear for a change rather than gloves and bobble hats!
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