Lynsey Sharp has had quite a year. So far, she has celebrated her 18th birthday, completed her final year at high school, and been accepted to pursue a law degree at Dundee University.

‘So what?’ you might ask, is she not in the same boat as the thousands of 18-year-old school-leavers dotted around the country? A short browse through Sharp’s schedule for the last eight months however reveals that she is not in the mainstream. If all the thousands are on a boat cruising along, then Sharp is rowing herself through rugged waters.

On her 18th birthday in July, the Edinburgh based 800m runner was not out gallivanting with her friends in the city’s bars and clubs, she was competing in one of the biggest sporting events of her career so far, the World Youth Games.

Sharp was also unable to attend her school leavers’ ball because she had a prior engagement at an athletics meet, and a significant pull factor in her choice of university was Dundee’s willingness to work around her busy sporting lifestyle.

Some may rue these events as opportunities missed, but Sharp, one of Scotland’s top young 800m runners, has a different outlook on life. Such is her drive for success, what some would consider as sacrifices are in fact chances and opportunities, which she hopes, will lead her towards the highest stage. “I don’t feel like I’m missing out, sport is a part of my life.”

Meeting with In The Winning Zone during a break from her intense training schedule, Sharp speaks contagiously about her sport. She revealed that her passion is still raw, her willingness to improve still strong, and her determination to succeed is still as fresh as it was when she first took to the track as a youngster nine years ago.

Sharp talks about her first taste of competitive running; she was 9-years-old, tagging along with her elder sister in a schools race. She crossed the line before many of her elder counterparts and she was hooked. This schools race was probably one of the smallest and least talked about of her performances, but to Sharp it meant everything. It was the beginning of her story.

So, let’s start at the beginning. Why did she decide to take up athletics as a youngster? “I think I would have always done a sport but because I saw my mum and sister running, I wanted to get involved.”

Sharp may have decided to take up the sport because she liked what she saw in her family’s sporting habits, but it was before she could stand on her own two feet that her sporting fate was planned out. A quick look at her family’s athletic record provides evidence that she has running in her blood and success in her genes.

Her father, Cameron, won a gold and four bronze Commonwealth Games medals over 8 years in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Most notable was his gold in the 4x100m relay at the 1978 Games in Edmonton, where he became a Scottish Commonwealth champion alongside David Jenkins, Andrew Macmaster and soon to become Olympic champion, Allan Wells.

Her mother, Carol, can also provide her with an insight into her sport at a world-class level as she represented Scotland in the 800m at the 1982 Commonwealth Games

Inspired by her parent’s successes, Sharp’s story continued to produce promising results, competing and winning schools races and Scottish inter-regional races. As she progressed, she began competing in races around the UK, and in 2004 she became the under-15 indoor and outdoor AAA 800m champion. Displaying her talents to the rest of the UK, she came home as the best 800m runner in her age group.

That victory did however prove to be the peak of a young career that was put on hold for two years by a frustrating injury in her feet, caused by her bones growing faster than her muscles. Sharp was injured for a year, and took another year to get over her problem.

“Once I got the injury sorted I just had to get my fitness back but those two years were probably the toughest so far because I was running slower than I had the year previously, but I just got on with it.”

Demonstrating the true traits of any successful sportsperson, Sharp displayed composure and determination to get over her injury and come back stronger. In 2006, as she was returning to form, Sharp was selected among 15 other young Scots in an elite training squad to be coached by former world champion, Liz McColgan.

For the last two-and-a-half years, Sharp has been coached by McColgan, and she believes that much of her recent progression in her sport has been down to her coach’s experience and her new training regime.

“Before I went to Liz, the training I was doing wasn’t specific to 800m but now my training is a lot more organised and structured. She [McColgan] has so much experience and can tell me what to expect at major championships and how to run specific races. It’s something that really helps me and I’m lucky to have that.”

Sharp’s training schedule doesn’t involve simply turning up at the local track and participating in a session. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, she travels the 90-minute journey from Edinburgh to Dundee and back for sessions with McColgan’s training squad. On top of this, she does two individual sessions on a Monday, two on a Wednesday and a long run with her mum every Sunday.

Her journeys to and from training may be time consuming and energy sapping, but this is the effort Sharp is willing to put in to get to the top. So far, it seems to be paying off.

In her most recent sports-related venture, Sharp travelled to the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Representing Great Britain in the biggest competition of her career, Sharp was aiming to soak up the atmosphere and gain experience of a world-class championship.

She came through a tough heat but fell at the semi-final stage. Her aim was to reach the final but she admits the she has gained an invaluable insight into running against the best in the world.

“In my heat, everyone was pushing everywhere and its not like that in Britain at all. They push you over and I wasn’t used to that at all. It was really tactical and I’m used to running off a fast pace with a pacemaker.

“If there was nothing I could improve on then I would have been really down about not getting to the final but there is a lot that I can improve on for next year. I don’t do any weights and that’s really important. I need to work on my confidence as well.”

Although she did not come close to the medals in Poland, Sharp has a mature outlook on her performance. It was an experience, a stepping stone, which she hopes will take her to the top of her sport at senior level.

Her aims and ambitions are, after all, to reach the greatest events on the athletics calendar. “I’m aiming for the Commonwealth games in 2010, London Olympics in 2012 and then Glasgow in 2014. If I take another 2 seconds off before 2010 then I might be within the qualifying time. Then 2012 is another 2 years training away.”

Next up for the Edinburgh teenager, however, is a long haul flight to India, where she will compete for Scotland in the Commonwealth Youth Games. It’s not often that Sharp gets a chance to compete for Scotland on the world stage, and there is a glint of added determination when she speaks about her next big competition.

She will be hoping to add to the experiences she has been involved in so far in 2008, and is determined go one better and bring home a medal from India. “After experiencing Poland, I now know what the Commonwealth Youths is going to be like. I want to win it – that’s my goal,” She smiles.

Every action she takes and every decision she makes is related to her progression as an athlete, there seem to be no barriers for Lynsey Sharp and you get the idea that she is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish her goals.

IC
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