Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Olympics debut beckons for Inverness runner Megan Keith

A flawless display at the British 10,000 metres trials secured Keith's place at the Paris Games.

Inverness runner Megan Keith. Image: Shutterstock
Inverness runner Megan Keith. Image: Shutterstock

Megan Keith secured her Olympic debut in Paris with a brilliant victory at the British 10,000 metres trials and then revealed she’d had to tell her supporters to dial down the hype.

The 22-year-old from Inverness completed the selection formalities late on Saturday evening in 31 minutes 3.02 seconds.

Keith rounded off a pitch-perfect showing at the Night of the 10Ks meeting in Highgate by edging out American challenger Fiona O’Keeffe in a punchy sprint to the finish line.

Earning the qualifying mark in California in March meant all she required on Saturday was to be among the top-two Brits.

Her closest domestic challenger, Jess Warner-Judd, was 33 seconds adrift and short of UK Athletics Olympic standard, paving the way for the absent Eilish McColgan to get the nod from selectors.

Megan Keith in action at the British 10,000 metres trials. Image: Aspekt/On.

Yet, although Keith had a clear path, booking a ticket to the Games meant staying patient and holding her nerve rather than risking running out of steam.

The Edinburgh University student said: “I just had to take the opportunity that was there and I just gave it a good shot.

“I knew it was within touching distance, but I just didn’t want to get carried away.

“A lot of people also thought when I had run the time back in March that I had qualified.

“I’ve been going around the last few months, getting them to know that I still have to go to trials to come top two. So it’s kind of been there in my head.

“But I’m just really happy it’s all gone to plan.”

Keith could make it a Paris double

The trajectory for the young Highlander is very much upwardly mobile.

Claiming the European Under-23 title over 5000 metres last July was followed by a world championship debut in Budapest that brought disappointment from missing out on the final amid a slow tactical race in her heat.

The form from a second European cross-country gold was translated on to the track when becoming the fifth-quickest British woman of all time over 5000m with a mark of 14:43.24 at April’s Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.

That performance means she would nail down a double tilt in Paris if she comes first or second at next month’s UK trials in Manchester.

Whether she opts in, or rests up, will be a decision taken in tandem with her coach, Ross Cairns.

She said: “I have the time to secure a spot. I would have to come top two at the trials, but I’m also aware that I’ve been racing since March now.

“So to me, it feels like we’re in the depth of track season, but it’s still two months until the Olympics.”

Such is Keith’s promise that she could skip what will probably be a bunfight in Manchester and ask to be considered for a discretionary pick.

She said: “If it was an option, I probably wouldn’t say no.”

Conversation