Scotland still relying on Lee McConnell

ONLY ONE Scottish athlete will board a plane on Tuesday bound for Doha for the world indoor championships, Lee McConnell representing a meagre contribution to the Great Britain team. "I don't think you can look into the state of Scottish athletics on just one championships," she says. "In the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter because we have two major championships this year: the Europeans and Commonwealths. That's where the focus lies."

In one sense, the holder of several major medals is right. Many global greats remain in winter hibernation, conserving their energies for the summer. Yet, former Scottish Athletics chief executive Geoff Wightman acknowledges that the numbers game matters. And as judgments are passed on his six-year tenure in charge of the sport's domestic governing body, a purely statistical analysis casts up as many pluses as minuses.

Sitting in the office at Scottish Athletics' headquarters that will soon be inhabited by his successor, Nigel Holl, the former marathon runner concedes that the lack of an established successor to McConnell raises difficult questions.

"I think things like cross-country, mountain-running, indoors and ultra-running are all areas where we're having success," he asserts. "But when it comes down to brass tacks, the public will look at those major teams and ask how many Scots are there, how many are making finals, and how many are on the podium?"

Finances, always stretched, dictate the rules of engagement. On that score, Wightman's era has seen turnover increase and sponsors engaged, a positive move away from the troubled times when unpaid VAT bills left the sport passing around a begging bowl to remain solvent.

There are now regular events throughout the year, run to a standard that replicates the demands of the Grand Prix circuit. There is an annual coaching conference that now attracts the best minds from around the world. "Plus I haven't put membership fees up," he jokes. "No one ever mentions that."

Wightman is soon to become the first full-time chief executive of British Road Running, an umbrella body that brings together the diverse interests within what is athletics' biggest arm. Then, as in the recent past, he expects to win few popularity contests.

"If I replayed the whole six years, there have been some communications issues around some of the issues we had," he reflects. "With the six-year plan, when I've gone to the committees of the most challenging clubs, we've had very good meetings. It almost implies there were misunderstandings over what the thrust of the plan was."

There have been mischievous hints that his blueprint may be shredded. New head coach Laurier Primeau is infusing his own ideas, while a UK-wide coaching standard has been quietly discarded. "So that can be re-looked at," he states. "I think the rest of it still holds up pretty well."

Despite his endeavours, there is a structural malfunction which Wightman inherited and which, he claims, remains unresolved. There exists a lost generation behind McConnell.

"We still have talented athletes coming through," he says. "Beth Potter broke some of Yvonne Murray's junior records recently. Other records will continue to get broken. But there isn't the depth that you would like to see."

Meanwhile, McConnell admits her level of fitness remains uncertain heading to Doha, where she will lead Britain's 400 metres relay squad. The 31-year-old has not raced since September and will use the indoors as a springboard for the summer.

"I'm under no illusion that I'm going out to break records," she said. "But it will be nice to get a run-out and maybe see where I am. I have to take it as it comes without reading too much into it."