The door which leads to Olympic selection has opened a little wider for discus thrower Kirsty Law.
Although it’s very early in the season, the Loughborough-based Inverness Harriers club member, who comes from Munlochy on the Black Isle, is already showing outstanding form.
Law, 34, threw 58.82 metres at a track and field meeting at Trafford on Saturday, breaking by almost one metre her previous best set when winning the 2020 British title.
This result moves her into second position on the Scottish all-time best performers list behind the legendary Meg Ritchie, who threw 67.48m 40 years ago this month.
Ritchie, the 1982 Commonwealth champion who finished fifth at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, is also the British record-holder, while Law has now moved from 12th to eighth place in the UK all-time standings
Law’s Trafford throw was much further than the standard required for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, as the qualification period opened on March 1, but now the Great Britain international is gunning for the more immediate target of 2021 Olympic selection.
She said: “Obviously I am very happy, but I know there’s much more to come. I opened with a throw of 57.85m which, at this time last year, would have been a PB.
“I followed that with a 56, then the 58.82, a 55 and two more 56s. I think by the end I was trying too hard.”
Law knows there’s more work to be done if she is to achieve her goal of earning a place on Team GB for Tokyo this summer, as the selection standard is 62.52m.
However, there is an alternative route to qualification through the new Olympic points system, which rewards performances which are weighted according to the importance of the competition.
Law said: “I’m in good shape, but I’m still in a heavy phase of training and I shouldn’t be throwing at my best right now, so that bodes well for the rest of the season.”
“My aim is now to get as close to that 62m mark as possible and I’ll also be looking at the points system, but that means getting into a number of overseas competitions.
“I have quite a few opportunities coming up in the weeks and months ahead.
“There’s another meeting at Trafford next weekend, but unfortunately I’m working 14-hour shifts in the two days before that event.
“I’ll definitely be competing at Loughborough on April 17 and after that I hope to be selected for the European throws meeting in Croatia on May 8-9 as that seems to be definitely going ahead.
“If I go to Croatia, the plan is then to take in a couple of competitions in Germany before returning for the Loughborough international.
“After that, there’s the possibility of the European team championships, another meeting in Manchester then the British championships in June.”
Moray club member Cameron Main third on Scottish all-time list after remarkable 5km race at Barrowfield
Cameron Main (Moray Road Runners) produced one of the fastest 5km road running times by a Scottish athlete when finishing sixth in a sensational race at Barrowfield in Lancashire, where Glasgow’s Beth Potter set an unofficial women’s world record.
Stroud’s Tom Mortimer was the overall winner in 13min 39sec, while Elgin runner Main remarkably scythed 53secs off his previous best when recording 13:53 for sixth position. Potter stopped the clock at 14:41.
That places Main, 21, third equal with Central AC’s Jamie Crowe on the Scottish all-time best performers’ list behind Nat Muir (Shettleston Harriers) and John Robson (Edinburgh Southern Harriers) who clocked their respective times of 13:34 and 13:36 at Newcastle in 1985.
Main, who is studying sports science and exercise at Stirling University, is better known as a triathlete.
He said: “I’m really happy with my performance. I thought if the conditions were perfect, I might have been close to 14min, so it’s a big surprise to go under that time.
“It’s exciting to have run so fast and, although I’m 19secs outside the Scottish record, it’s maybe something I can aim for in the future.
“I was running with Jonny Brownlee, the 2016 Olympic triathlon silver medallist, for most of the way.
“He was one second ahead of me, but it was surreal as I’ve never been with athletes of that calibre in a race before.”
There was further joy for Main when his girlfriend and Moray clubmate Sophia Green also produced an excellent performance, recording a personal best 16:13.
He said: “She didn’t have an official time before that, although I paced her to a 17:23 run last year, so it’s a huge improvement on that.”
