The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Clark out to make her mark on big stage.
Scottish runner eyeing worlds
Aberdeen AAC’s Zoey Clark goes in search of a world indoor championships 400metres qualifying time when she races in the IAAF world indoor tour meeting at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena tomorrow.
A capacity crowd will watch what promises to be a spectacular meeting featuring 43 Olympic and world championship medallists.
Clark, 21, has been in outstanding form in her previous races this winter, the highlight coming last month when she set a personal best time of 53.02sec in Austria.
It was the fifth-fastest time recorded indoors by a Scot and earned her second position in this year’s UK rankings behind Seren Bundy-Davies, who is also running in Glasgow.
Clark’s time is only .02sec outside the standard required to be considered for a place on the Great Britain team for next month’s world championships in Portland, Oregon.
Clark is excited by the way her season is unfolding and is relishing the challenge which could edge her closer to selection for the world event.
She said: “The world trials and British championships are the following weekend at Sheffield when I’ll have maybe three rounds to run, so it’s hard to get a quick time.
“This weekend, however, there’s a great chance to go for a fast time in a one-off race against top opposition. I’ll be able to concentrate more on the time rather than trying to get a position.
“It would be good if I could get the world quali- fying time before going to Sheffield next week.”
Clark will face five extremely experienced athletes who boast much quicker times than she has run so far in her career.
Jamaica’s Stephanie Ann McPherson will start as favourite on her return to Glasgow two years after picking up individual and 4x400m relay gold in the Commonwealth Games.
She has a best time of 49.92sec and was a member of the Jamaican quartet which won the world 4x400m relay title in Beijing last summer.
Bundy- Davies, who helped Britain finish second in the relay in Beijing, will try to improve on the season’s best 51.60 set at the same Austrian meeting in which Clark ran her fast time. European under-23 champion Bianca Razor (Romania), former European indoor champion Denisa Rosolova (Czech Republic) and world championship 400m hurdler Jasmine Chaney (US) are Clark’s other opponents.
The Aberdeen woman, who was a member of the gold medal-winning Great Britain 4x400m relay team at last summer’s European under-23 championships in Estonia, is not fazed about lining up against athletes of this calibre.
She said: “It suits me to be up against faster athletes. Hopefully, they will pull me to the time I’d like to get.”
Clark’s coach Eddie Mckenna is also excited about her prospects and said: “It’s a great chance for Zoey to get the world qualifying standard. But not only that, it’s going to be another tremendous experience for her to be part of such a high-class meeting. It will raise her profile.”
“Concentrate on the time rather than trying to get a position”