Moscow medallist Eilidh Child has told Scotland’s young athletes they must commit to the sport “24/7” if they are to make the leap from potential to podium places.
The former PE teacher is one of our best hopes for Glasgow 2014 following a fifth-place finish in the final of the 2013 World Championships in the 400m hurdles.
Child became only the fourth Scot to pick up a medal at those championships as she joined Liz McColgan, Dougie Walker and Lee McConnell in that elite pantheon.
Now, the Scottish record holder has urged the younger generation to commit completely in the pursuit of excellence.
Scottish youngsters delivered the country’s best performance at the England Athletics U15 and U17 Championships since the turn of the century earlier this month 19 medals and a number of those youngsters will be involved in the Sainsbury’s UK School Games in Sheffield this weekend.
“I look back a few years now and I think, in terms of stuff like diet and preparation, “if only I had known that’,’ Eilidh said. “Even up to 21 or 22 I was doing the wrong thing quite often. Putting everything in place is so important.
“At the end of the day you are not just an athlete when you are at the track when competing or training. You are an athlete 24/7 and it is about everything you do being geared towards your athletic performance.
“I am talking in terms of what you are eating and drinking, the rest you are getting and even stuff like how long you spend out in the sun draining your energy.
“Early nights, not going out, not drinking alcohol all of these things are factors.
“There is a break at the end of the season when you can enjoy yourself a little bit more and we are human.
“I think you can treat yourself every now and again but you do have to get the balance right.
“The main thing for me is you want to confident when you step into competition that you’ve done all you can to feel right.
“You want to be thinking ‘I have done everything in my power to be in the best possible shape for this’ when you are there on the start line.
“If it is not enough to win the gold then so be it but at least I know I’ve given my best.”
The right amount of rest and a proper breakfast can even be important, insisted role model Child, tipped to be the “face of Glasgow 2014’ in terms of the athletics at Hampden.
“I don’t measure out everything I eat but I do admit I’ve got better at it over the years,’ said the 26-year-old, a silver medallist in the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.
“My diet wasn’t very good at all at one stage. These last few years it has got a lot better.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to eat healthy, it was more that I didn’t know what eating healthy really was.
“You see things like cereal bars and energy drinks but maybe they are not as healthy as you think when you examine the ingredients.
“The big thing for me is basics cutting out crisps and chocolate as snacks and junk food. I eat a lot of veg and a lot of fruit. It is not rocket science.”
Chief executive Nigel Holl insists Scottishathletics are working with coaches and the country’s 150 athletics clubs to try and prevent youngsters dropping out of the sport in their late teens.