Coach Ross Cairns described Inverness track star Megan Keith as being a winner already just by reaching the Paris Olympics 10,000m start line.
Keith, 22, becomes Inverness Harriers’ first Olympian as she, alongside fellow Scot Eilish McColgan, competes for Team GB this Friday night in the Stade de France.
Winning bronze at the European Championship in Rome in June was an indication of Keith’s senior potential, with the victory coming hot on the heels of her becoming British champion and winning under-23 Cross Country gold in December.
Keith secured her Paris spot at the British 10,000 metre trials in May and now, after preparing in the Highland capital, the Edinburgh University student is ready.
‘Paris Olympics is a free hit for Megan’
Long-time coach Cairns says, though she is about to make her Olympics bow, time is on Keith’s side when it comes to international competition.
He said: “The Olympics is the ultimate destination for every athlete. It’s like the Euros for football or the Rugby World Cup for those in rugby.
“The wide eyes of the world are on you for these 10 days, but what is unique is that it is every four years – that can sometimes be too much pressure to perform at that exact moment in time.
“People might not be quite ready for it yet, or they’re on a journey.
“Megan will be brilliant and that comes from the unwavering trust she has in the process. She’s maximised the experience from all these big races.
“Paris is a free hit with zero expectation – she’s 22 and we’ve won by being just on that start line.
“Athletes more experienced than Megan understand that. They know anything from now on is a bonus for her. She backs herself that more of the same will follow.
“It’s almost developmental. I still see Megan as a developing athlete, even though she’s on the start line at the Paris Olympics. She’s already had a lot of experience.”
Megan Keith has racked up 10,000m track race experiences
Cairns added: “She’s had three 10,000m track races this year alone. There was a road 10k in Valencia in January.
“She’s actually ran four overall this year, which is a lot for a 22-year-old. All of that was needed to get her to Paris. You could not substitute any of that experience or steps along the way.
“Valencia (in January) was about racing the distance. In LA, it was about racing the qualifying times. Highgate in London was amazing and that was about keeping it consistent, racing the field, then Rome was about racing for a medal for the first time.
“When you think about it, Megan has peaked twice already this year – the 10 in LA to get a qualifying time, which was pretty far out there, then stay consistent to peak again to win her first senior medal.
“In Paris, she aims to just be the best she can on the day – it’s not a be all, or end all. That’s the really good thing.
“She not 29 or 30 and you’ve had a few chances – and this is the last one at the Olympics – she’s on a journey.”
Keith has always had ‘how far can I go?’ attitude, coach says
Keith, a former world orienteering champion with a British team, has always impressed Cairns as she strode through the age groups at club level.
He added: “I’ve been club coach at Inverness Harriers and used to take the juniors group, from 13 years old until they go to university or they are seniors.
“Megan had always been around that group with a ‘how far can I go?’ attitude.
“In 2019, Megan won her first national medal, which is amazing.
“When coaching Megan, it’s about making sure she’s happy on and off the track, and she’s always been that type of person. What you invest in yourself, you get back through enjoyment and the connection.
“It’s not all about metrics and medals. You’ve got to fall in love with the sport.
“Holding athletes back when they are juniors is probably hard for some, but Megan got it. That allows you to flourish and gain consistency and longevity.
“Since 2019, she’s had a meteoric rise. The hardest thing in coaching is probably patience. But if you get patience, you get longevity. You then enjoy what you do, and you invest a lot more in yourself.
“That means you get to go to destinations like Megan has been already and it’s a big journey.
“Megan has benefitted from that coaching philosophy.
“When I think of Megan, the Olympian, I find that stunning. I can’t recall what it says, but something like 0.001% of humans make it to the Olympic Games.
“She’s a fantastic human being as well as that’s important. She trusts the process and she inspires folk in her focus group and wider Inverness, including me as a coach.
“I have helped that little bit as a coach, but she goes out and maximises what she does.”
Inverness was great for Keith’s final Olympics prep
Cairns and Keith were given a warm send-off at her final training session at Queen’s Park last week.
Her preparations in July were centred in her home city, and the coach said: “The key thing was not to make anything unusual.
“Megan is an amazing athlete, who has never been at altitude yet, so to finish at Rome and then have that last run to Paris, to change anything that she’s not used to would not have been a great idea.
“Inverness was a great substitute. The weather was not bad in the immediate build-up to going over to France.”
Amid the 26-runner field for 10,000m in Paris is the reigning Olympic champion, three-time medallist Ethiopian-born Dutch star Sifan Hassan, who is also contesting the 5,000m and the marathon.
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