When Catriona Morrison added the world long course duathlon title to her European crown on Sunday, it was another remarkable triumph for the Broxburn-based athlete, but for the third time in weeks it highlights questions over the funding of elite Scottish sports competitors.
Morrison is part of the Winning Scots programme bankrolled by the Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation. It is a project initiated by Bill Gammell, the Cairn Energy oil entrepreneur, which aims to support Scots outside the lottery system. It also seeks to investigate and promote a winning culture in business.
Morrison, 30, was dropped by the lottery when she decided to abandon the Olympic distance triathlon, and was first to be supported by the programme. She won the world short course crown last year and added the European long course title in Edinburgh this summer. Now she is the first to hold the global and Europen long course titles simultaneously.
Sunday's success in Virginia caps a 100% record for the project. The SIS foundation also supported the borderer Ross Cunningham, the world mountain biking champion, and Glasgow's Barry Ward, who was in Britain's gold medal 4 x 100 metres squad at the Special Olympics in Shanghai.
Graham Watson, executive director of the foundation, confirmed yesterday that they are so pleased with Glasgow-born Morrison that they are to support her for at least a further year.
"She has delivered on everything she said. It's a great tribute to her work ethic, and she is an outstanding role model," said Watson. "Our aim is to expand on that. All three are a tremendous inspiration, and in each case, none had been picked up by other parts of the system."
Morrison won a modest £3000 for her victory; she beat England's Michelle Lee (a top 20 finisher in this month's Great North Run) by more than five minutes. Morrison said she felt "utterly gubbed", having led from start to finish of the 15k run, 76k cycle, and 7.5k run. "I was surprised to win, and really surprised nobody caught me on the bike. I hadn't had a lot of competition recently, and didn't know what effect things might have had."
Having recently married, she rode with her new husband, Richard, on a tandem, to the reception. The pair contested a seven-day 375-mile bike race through the Canadian Rockies on their honeymoon. "I fell off umpteen times, and I'm covered in scars," she revealed. "My mountain biking is chronic. You could say my skill level and fitness level are completely divergent. I didn't know how that might affect my preparations. But the prize money will help us to re-render the back of our house."
That ticks off all major duathlon titles on the International Triathlon Union circuit, and her next goal is the 70.3 Ironman triathlon world championships, at Clearwater in Florida next month.
Yet the reality of being a world champion, even with Winning Scots support, is that Morrison will be back at work tomorrow in West Lothian as an active schools co-ordinator.
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