Jamie Bowie has been named as one of twelve Scottish athletes to receive support for the next twelve months as a member of UK Athletics’ World Class Performance programme. Our 24 year old club 400m record holder is one of just four athletes to receive the top level “podium” support in the 4 x 400m relay which will not only provide finance but will also cover medical and physiotherapy backup, training opportunities and access to competitions.

     This follows Jamie’s selection for the 4 x 400m relay in the World Championships in August and his stunning split of 44.84 sec in the heats. During the summer he took his personal best and club record for 400m down in four stages to 46.06 sec which is fourth in the Scottish all time list. However this is still 0.41 sec adrift of an incredibly tough 45.65 sec Commonwealth qualifying standard. Jamie currently receives no national support from within Scotland and has so far had to rely almost exclusively on local sources, including this club.

     ”Getting on to this programme will make a huge difference to me, especially in what I will now be able to do,” he said. “It has been quite difficult so far from the point of view of funding and I am very grateful to Highland Council’s Duncraig Educational Trust, the Loch Ness Rotary Club and of course Inverness Harriers. I have also had some assistance from Glasgow since I compete for them in the British League but getting this podium level support from UK Athletics for the next year is very important to me.”