Zoey Clark’s appearance at the Tokyo Olympic Games was the standout north-east athletics achievement of 2021.
The 400m specialist became only the second Aberdeen woman in history to have competed in a track and field event at the Games when she ran in the mixed and women’s 4x400m relays in Japan.
The only other Aberdonian to have reached these heights is Quita Shivas, who ran in the 100m at Helsinki in 1952.
Shivas was eliminated in the first round, finishing third in her heat with a time of 12.5secs. Only the top two qualified for the semi-final and the winner, Australia’s Shirley Strickland, went on to take bronze in the final.
Clark helped her side reach the final of both relays in Tokyo this year, but wasn’t called upon for either final in which the teams finished outside the medal positions.
It was, nevertheless, a proud occasion for the 26-year-old process engineer – and it has whetted her appetite for more.
She said: “I was delighted to get picked and I thoroughly enjoyed my time out there, even though it wasn’t the way an Olympics would normally be because of the pandemic.
“With the relays, you never know if you will get a chance to run at all as we had a big squad.
“The standard of British women’s 400m running has been so high this year, so it was amazing for me to get two runs in Tokyo. I think I did well to get there and I feel I performed well.
“So, I want it again and I am 100% up for getting to the 2024 Games. We tend to work on an Olympic cycle in terms of training, so it’s definitely up there in my thoughts, even although there’s a few major championships between now and then.”
After Olympic disappointment, Banchory’s Simpson took on the world – off-road
Robbie Simpson’s hopes of a place in the Olympic marathon ended when the Banchory runner finished sixth in the Great Britain trial held on a Covid-secure course at London’s Kew Gardens.
The Deeside man switched his attention to longer off-road races for the rest of the year and produced some top level performances.
He finished second to world trail running champion Jon Albon in the CCC 55k race at the prestigious Ultra Trail Mont Blanc festival in August.
And that came just a few weeks after he was again runner-up, this time to legendary Spanish endurance athlete Kilian Jornet, in the classic Sierre-Zinal Swiss mountain race.
North-east trio lead Scotland to Anglo-Celtic Plate glory
Metro Aberdeen Running Club pulled off a remarkable achievement in the ultra distance road running world.
Chris Richardson, Jason Kelly and Kyle Greig swapped their club’s black and gold vests for the blue of Scotland and took the Anglo Celtic Plate 100k international race by storm.
The Metro men occupied all three places on the podium, propelling their country to a commanding victory in the team competition.
The race was also this year’s Scottish championships, so they pocketed all the medals in that as well.
Richardson, making his international debut, led the way by winning the race in 7hr 00min 49secs. Next home was Kelly, another Scotland new boy, who completed the course in 7:05:15. Greig, by far the most experienced of the trio, had to settle for third position in 7:07:07.
Richardson’s performance makes him seventh fastest on the Scottish all-time best performers 100k list, while Kelly is ninth. Greig is fifth fastest of all-time with his best of 6:54:42 set when finishing third in the 2019 Anglo Celtic Plate.
Metro also had a representative in the Northern Ireland team. Dave Andrews, who was raised in Belfast but has lived in the north-east for more than 20 years, finished 17th in 8:14:41.
Athletes miss out on Thailand trip
Oldmeldrum ultra distance runner Meryl Cooper also stepped up a gear in 2021 to win the British 100k trail running title in Cumbria.
That earned her a place on the Great Britain team for the world championships which were to have been held in Thailand last month. The event was firstly postponed until February, but has now been put back to next November.
The upshot is that Cooper will have to qualify once again by competing in another trial in 2022.
The same disappointment was experienced by Aberdeen AAC’s Naomi Lang, who was selected for the world mountain running championships, also to have been held in Thailand. She, too, will have to try again in the year ahead.
Still has Birmingham Games chance
US-based Kemnay athlete Alix Still was also on fire in 2021, establishing herself as one of Scotland’s best multi-events athletes.
The 21-year-old, based at the University of Virginia, moved up to second position on the Scottish all-time best performers list for the indoor pentathlon with a score of 3,974 points.
And outdoors, her best heptathlon score of 5,371, set in April, is only 193 points short of the standard required by Scotland’s selectors to be considered for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Injuries hit Rees and Harrison, but Aberdeen AAC youngsters shine
Alisha Rees (Banchory Stonehaven AC) was unbeaten over 60m indoors at the start of the year.
She went on to earn selection for the European under-23 championships in the summer, but was sadly hit by an injury on the second leg of the 4x100m relay and had to drop out.
At domestic level, Aberdeen AAC’s Roisin Harrison was the only north-east athlete to win a title at the Scottish senior track and field championships.
She won the 100m, but was unable to defend her 200m crown after sustaining a severe hamstring injury in the final.
Aberdeen AAC’s William Hodi was one of a large number of younger athletes making their mark over the year.
He picked up Scottish under-20 championship gold medals in decathlon, triple jump and 400m hurdles. His clubmate Jane Davidson won the 100m hurdles gold in this age group.
And brothers Kai and Rhys Crawford broke numerous Aberdeen AAC 800m records at under-17 and under-15 level, as well as winning their respective national titles.
