Coach Andy Young reckons Jemma Reekie may not be getting the recognition she deserves because of the current success of Scottish athletes.
While he is acutely aware that it can be a mistake to try to project too far ahead when dealing with young athletes, Young noted that Reekie has already done enough to merit considerable attention.
“The funny thing is that if we didn’t have Laura and Andy Butchart and Callum (Hawkins) we’d be jumping up and down right now about Jemma saying she was the greatest thing since sliced bread,” he observed.
“She’s won the European Junior Championships and run these remarkably fast times and it’s almost slipped under the radar.
“She’s never expressed any concern but I think if I was her I’d almost be a little bit upset that she could be European Junior champion and have done all these remarkable things like winning the English Championship 1500 and 3K in the same weekend which is unheard of, she won the senior championships, so she’s done all these great things, so if I was her I’d probably be a bit put out, but she doesn’t seem bothered.”
Reekie has been setting faster times in training and competition than stablemate Muir at the same age, but Young warned that it would be wrong to read to much into that in isolation.
“Obviously Jemma’s got great potential going forward, but to make a direct comparison I can look at the context and think it’s slightly unfair.
“What I will say, though, is that she’s got the same sort of tenacity and determination in training.”
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