Having her Commonwealth Games spot announced makes the honour feel more real for Keith sprinter Rebecca Matheson.
The Aberdeen AAC member was named in the Team Scotland squad for the Games on Friday and will make her debut in the 4x100m relay in Birmingham.
Matheson will compete alongside fellow north athletes Alisha Rees and Taylah Spence, with Heather Paton and Sarah Malone completing the relay squad.
It will give the team the chance to compete at the same stadium they set the Scottish record at earlier this year, having recorded a time of 44.75s at the Alexander Stadium in May.
“It wasn’t that long ago I found out I’d been selected and it was quite difficult to keep a secret,” said Matheson.
“They have relay programmes at Scottish Athletics so the goal of that was to get a team to the Commonwealth Games. Obviously that paid off.
“It definitely feels a lot more real now and it’s obviously getting closer. I just can’t wait to get down there. I’ve been competing so it’ll be good to get a good block of training in before I head down to the holding camp.
“It’s quite a strong team. There’s 11 going to worlds, so athletics in Scotland is doing well just now. There’s definitely been a surge.”
‘We know what we’re doing together’
Setting the national record was the first time the team had competed together as a quartet and was Spence’s debut in a Scotland vest.
Having a strong north representation in the relay team means there are plenty of familiar faces come Games-time.
“On the morning of that day, we were like ‘well we might set the record’, but the standard was quite a bit quicker than the record was at that point. It was a nice surprise,” added Matheson.
“It’s good that we’re all getting to go. We know what we’re doing together. The Diamond League was held at the same stadium that’s going to be the Commonwealth Games stadium so it’s a good place for us.
“It’s weird, because we would race each other when we were younger, but now we’re in a team together it’s good.”
