Eilidh Child has grown quite fond of her name over the years, which is why she thought long and hard about changing it. When she marries Brian Doyle in October, she will assume her husband’s surname, the implications of which are not lost on the prospective Mrs Doyle. “You can get all the Father Ted puns in if you like,” she says.
At this point, the temptation is to ask what Child would say to a cup of tea [“Feck off cup” was Father Jack’s response], but the humour is better kept for the speeches at Glenskirlie Castle in two months’ time. Before that, the Scottish 400m hurdler has the World Championships in Beijing to concentrate on, starting with her heat in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
The poster girl for Glasgow 2014 won a silver medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games, followed by a gold at the European Championships, but there is just a chance that this year could be even more enjoyable. The forthcoming nuptials have added another, more relaxing dimension to her schedule.
“I tried to get things planned quite early so we’re pretty much organised,” she says. “It has been lovely to have that to look forward to this year as a separate focus to athletics. Last year was such a big high and there was so much going on, it’s nice to have this as a follow-up. Hopefully this can top what happened last year.”
Part of the wedding plan is to name each table after a sports stadium. For obvious reasons, Hampden Park will be among them. The Letzigrund in Zurich, where she became European champion, is sure to be another. Whether the Bird’s Nest in Beijing is also pencilled in remains to be seen.
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“I don’t like to jinx anything, but if all goes to plan, it could well be,” said Child, who was a 22-year-old PE teacher when the 2008 Olympic Games were held there.
“I remember finishing work and listening on the radio to Tasha Danvers winning her medal. I remember watching Christine [Ohuruogu]. Everyone remembers the stadium, the way it looked and what a show they put on. I can’t wait to get out there and see it.”
Child will be hard pressed to eclipse the achievements of last year. The Perth-born athlete, now based in Bath, admits that she has lacked consistency in 2015, a shortcoming she attributes to her increased speed, which in turn requires a stride adjustment.
One of seven Scots representing Great Britain in Beijing, she knows that the competition will be deeper and stronger than it was in Glasgow, when Kaliese Spencer, the Jamaican, was her nemesis. “It’s not the two-horse race it was last year,” admits Child. “There’s a helluva lot more girls I have to beat.”
That said, she finished fifth, without running well, at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. Then she demonstrated a strength of character, in Zurich as well as Glasgow, that will be an asset in the days ahead. After all the pressure that was on her shoulders a year ago, this season has been a breeze.
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“There’s only been one championship that I’ve needed to focus on, which has been nice. There’s been far less attention on me. Last year, every race I did, I felt I was being scrutinised and people were watching me closely. This year, I’ve been able to go a little bit under the radar. I’m still competing at the Diamond Leagues and getting attention, but it feels a lot calmer.”
Child, who has run in three previous World Championships, would love to add a medal of that weight to her collection, but she is not one for setting targets. Assuming she reaches her final on Wednesday, a personal best is the only objective. Whether that earns her first, third or sixth place is outside her control. The same goes for Britain’s 4 x 400m relay team, of which she is a mainstay.
If she has given her all and executed the best possible race, that will be enough to satisfy Child, who is also determined not to be demoralised by the doping scandal that envelopes athletics. The challenge for every clean athlete is to remain motivated at a time when so many of their rivals are rumoured to be cheating.
Asked if she was able to put the drugs issue aside, Child replies: “You have to. If you didn’t, you would drive yourself crazy. If I suspected people I was racing against, it would be so difficult to then try and perform. Every time I step on the line, I believe that everybody against me is clean. People might say it’s naive, but I do believe that. You have to.”
Now is not the time to be distracted. At 28, this is the peak of her career, a perfect opportunity, after the successes of 2014, to find yet another level. What a wedding present that would be for Mrs Doyle.