Beijing next stop for sprint coach Eddie

David O'Leary - David O'Leary • Published 22 Jul 2008 12:00 0 Comments

A former St Ronan"s Games winner is heading to Beijing this summer as Scotland"s sole coaching representative with the UK paralympic team.

Reverend Eddie McKenna, originally from Innerleithen is jetting off to the training camp in Macau on the 30th August before heading to the Olympic village on the 5th September.

Eddie has the prestigious role of being one of three staff track and field coaches with the 35-man squad. Eddie is also the personal sprint coach of medal hopeful Neil Fachie.

Neil from Aberdeen is visually impaired and will compete in both the 100m and 200m. Neil recently won both events at the Olympic trials in Birmingham and is aiming for gold in Beijing.

Based in Aberdeen, Eddie is Minister of the Church of Scotland in Kincorth and a Chaplain at Kincorth Academy.

He said: 'It"s a fantastic honour to be part of the squad and I"m raring to go at present. I found out on July 19 and even though I was on the shortlist, it still came as a great surprise. As a former athlete myself, to be so close to the Olympics and be part of the occasion will be fantastic.'

Eddie himself was a professional sprinter and honed his craft under the guidance of local coaching legend Charlie Russell in the St Ronan Games.

He said: 'As a lad I remember seeing Valerie Borzov winning the 100m in Munich in1973. This inspired me to take up athletics and one day whilst running up the pitch at St Ronan"s school, Charlie approached me.

'He asked me if I wanted him to coach me and told me that I would win the Americas Cup. Six weeks later I did win it and I went on to win it a further three times. I owe a great deal to Charlie"s enthusiasm and determination.

'I"ve taken a lot of what Charlie taught me into my own coaching. I believe that Charlie was truly ahead of his time because a lot of what he coached me back then is taken as the norm now.'

Eddie has been coaching Neil Fachie for over two years now and tells of a unique solution he found to a problem offered by his disability. He said: 'Neil is visually impaired and can"t see at night or at high speed, which is a big challenge for a sprinter training in Aberdeen in winter!

" We came up with the solution of running a strip of lights along the lines of the track, which offer Neil a guide allowing him to train throughout the year.'

'I"ve found paralympic athletes to have a much better attitude than their able-bodied counterparts. They have a real can-do attitude which is sometimes lacking in others.'

The world"s best athletes will be on show in Beijing and Eddie is eagerly looking forward to getting an up close and personal view of them. He said: 'Like the rest of the world I"m looking forward to the 100m battle between Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell which should be epic. I also can"t wait to check out Jeremy Wariner in the 400m, he"s just a phenomenon.'

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 22 Jul 08

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