Double gold for Downie

Published 21 Aug 2009 12:05 0 Comments

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WEST Linton sprinter Stacey Downie ran away with double gold at the recent Scottish under 23 championships at Grangemouth.

The 22-year-old sports science student, who is coached by Bill Walker, sucessfully defended both her U23 100m and 200m titles.

Stacey finished ahead of the field in the 100m final with a time of 12.06 secs; a personal best and championship record.

She then repeated this in the 200m final with a time of 24.49.

She said: "It's been a bit of an up and down year but I'm delighted to have defended both titles. This is actually the fourth 100m and 200m double I've done and I'm pleased with that consistency."

Stacey now has her sights set on booking a place at the next Commonwaealth Games as a member of the 4 x 400m relay team.

She said: "I've only ever has one attempt at it and came in at 57.2. As I become more used to it and with more training I should get that down to 53/54 secs; this should then get me a place."

In the meantime however Stacey returns to the track on August 26 when she will compete for Scotland in the Falkirk Cup at Grangemouth.

Fellow West Linton runner Chris O'Hare had an unfortunate experience in the 5000m at Grangemouth.

The 18-year old clutched his side in pain in the middle of a last-lap tussle with eventual winner Matthew Graham and collapsed.

He had been hoping to pull off a title double by also taking the under-20 1500m in his final appearance before leaving to take up an athletics scholarship at Tulsa University.

O'Hare was taken to hospital but later released after a scan revealed no major damage.

This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 21 Aug 09

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