VAN COMMENEE BACKS SCOTS HOPES FOR LONDON

7th February 2012

Great Britain head coach Charles van Commenee has backed Scotland’s Eilidh Child to make an impact at the London Olympics.

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist is back in Britain after warm weather training in South Africa during January.

Van Commenee watched Child in action with Malcolm at their hurdling base and felt the Commonwealth Games silver medallist was in good form.

Child reached the World Championship semi-final last year but didn’t set a hurdles personal best in 2011 and has been challenged to improve on that to stake her claim for London.

‘Eilidh Child has been in South Africa and for certain she has a good chance (of making the Olympics),’ van Commenee told the scottishathletics website.

‘I was out there when she was working with Malcolm Arnold and she looked good.

‘Eilidh did some excellent times in the training in South Africa and I felt she was in very good shape - but of course it is about what happens now.’

Lee McConnell is another serious Scottish contender for London with the 400 metre runner and relay specialist aiming to make it a hat-trick of Olympic appearances.

McConnell, training in Glasgow at the moment, went to Barcelona and then Beijing and has her sights on both the individual 400 metres and the relay this summer.

And van Commenee has offered Steph Twell and Eilish McColgan plenty of encouragement, too.

Twell is about to fly home to Britain from the UK Athletics altitude camp in Kenya while McColgan is back at Bisham Abbey this week following her return to track work after a broken foot wrecked her World Championship dream last August.

‘Steph has been working very hard in Africa,’ van Commenee.

‘She is running fine at altitude in Kenya so she is back to full fitness. We just hope she can reach the same standards she was at before.

‘Eilish has been to Bisham Abbey for rehab work early in January and then went back into track training. She has returned to Bisham now for more checks.

‘Medically she is almost 100 percent again now so it is about how much training she can do and how much fitter she becomes.

‘She just has to build it up now on a weekly basis. It can take a bit of time but I think she still has time. Both Steph and Eilish are very capable of making the Olympic team.’