Scottish Athletics have pulled off a major coup after revealing that English-born World Junior 1,500m champion Stephanie Twell will represent Scotland at international level.

The 19-year-old, who claimed 1500m gold at the World Junior Championships last summer, was born in Colchester and lived in Germany and Northern Ireland before settling in Hampshire.

Twell runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District AC and represented England as a youngster but qualifies to run for Scotland thanks to her Paisley-born mum.

Already an Olympic veteran, having represented Team GB in Beijing last year, Twell and her coach, Mick Woods, opted for Scotland to further her chances of developing in dual distances – the 5,000m and the 10,000m – as her career progresses.

The relative shortage of world-class distance runners in Scottish track-athletics leaves the door open for Twell to pursue both distances at the top international level, an opportunity she may not have if she represented England.

“We weighed this up very carefully before coming to a final decision," Woods told The Scotsman. 

“We believe that Scotland will afford her a better opportunity to double up at major events. She's a very strong athlete, and in future she could double up in the 5,000m and 10,000m, and Scotland would give her that chance."

Twell herself said: “I am half-Scottish, and my mum is very pleased that I've chosen to represent her side of the family. Whenever I've raced in Scotland, I've always been made to feel very welcome, and that's another reason for my decision."

“I also want to be very much part of the Scotland set-up, and part of that may be to be a role model to some of the younger athletes."