Olympic Games is a free hit for ‘generational athlete’ Megan Keith, according to Inverness Harriers coach Ross Cairns
Megan Keith’s coach believes Paris could be the first of multiple appearances at the Olympic Games – but cautions that this Friday’s race is a free hit for the 22-year-old.
Ross Cairns has worked with Keith over a number of years at the Inverness Harriers, and flew out on Wednesday night to be in the stadium when Keith competes in the 10,000m final on Friday night.
Fortrose-based Cairns has guided Keith through various successes in cross country, from local to international level, and has helped the Edinburgh University student transition to the track too.
It is still early days over the distance, with European bronze in her last outing just her third ever race over 10k.
With that in mind, Cairns says it is something of a bonus to have qualified for the pinnacle of athletics, which makes it easy to manage expectations for Keith’s Olympic outing.
“I think it’s just an amazing opportunity,” Cairns explained.
“We’re really excited about it, that’s just the nature of the whole event. It’s something you dream of as a kid, so it’s really good to see that come to fruition for Megan.
“You see people wishing her well and cheering her on to get a medal. That’s great to see and it has probably captured a lot of people in Inverness seeing that a local girl is racing on Friday night, but it’s about expectation management.
“This is the absolute cream of the crop over 10k, and this is just her fourth 10k ever.
“This is a free hit. She has never been to an Olympic Games, so Megan can try it and see what it’s like with no expectation.
“She will go out and maximise it, and give her absolute best in what is obviously a world-standard field, but there’s a journey with this 10k that might take us to this next one and beyond.”
Working together on a training plan to prepare for Paris, Cairns and Keith favoured familiarity.
Keith would normally train in Inverness over the summer when she is home from university, so that was exactly what she did this summer to attempt to treat the Olympics like any other race.
Regardless of what happens on the track on Friday, the whole experience will be a learning curve for both athlete and coach – one that many will hope can catapult Keith to further world championships, and potentially even returns to the Olympic stage.
“Other people have said it’s amazing, and a great journey that she has gone on, but we’re kind of in the bubble at the moment,” Cairns reasoned.
“It probably won’t hit us until about a month or six weeks after it that she has been to an Olympic Games. It hasn’t sunk in for either of us, it’s just a really cool story.
“We just tried to keep things really normal. You can’t really legislate for social media and people messaging you, but it’s a really healthy thing to switch your phone off. Both of us are just concentrating on getting to the start line with a really positive experience.
“She is an amazing athlete when it comes to any level of competition, and she’s one of those generational athletes who embraces that.
“Megan has all the tools to be quite a formidable athlete on the British endurance scene, but we have to remember that Megan is still a student. She’s not a full-time athlete at the moment – I think she’s got delayed exams when she gets home next week – and she’s only four races into her 10k journey.
“She has all the tools to remain at the level she is at, but neither of us are counting our chickens.
“It’s incredibly difficult to qualify for an Olympic Games. It’s amazing to do it at 22, and that’s why we were always going to take stock after Paris and see how we can get to the next one.
“When you start to move into multiple major championships, you start wondering how far you can go – into the top 10, or to medals? It’s progressive, but Megan has all the tools to be there.”
